What Once Was Lost
by HiroNinja
Summary: Waking up in a world he doesn't know with a past that he can't even remember. Will he be able to survive the dangers of Remnant while trying to reclaim his lost memories? (Self-Insert in the form of an OC)
1. Chapter 1: Remeber not to Forget

**Chapter 1: Remember not to Forget**

Everything was hazy. The world was spinning. I felt as though I was going to be sick as I tried to stand up. After three unsuccessful attempts I managed to at least bring myself onto my knees as I tried to make sense of what was happening.

I felt a cool breeze brush against my face as my eyesight slowly adjusted to the light. It took longer than I would have liked to finally get a bearing of where I was.

Besides the dark cement at my feet, the only thing as far as my eyes could see in every other direction was an orange sky.

Finally regaining some sense of balance, I stood up, rubbing my head as I did so.

"Anyone have an aspirin?" I asked to no one in particular.

I shook my head as the headache began to fade and walked to the edge of the concrete and looked down. I immediately regretted that decision.

I was on the roof a a decently sized building in the middle of some city that I've never seen before. At least... Not that I can remember. For some reason I had a strange case of déjà vu as I tried to think about where I've seen this place before.

My hand immediately returned to my forehead as the headache kicked back up.

"Why is it so hard to remember?" I thought aloud. "How did I even get here?"

As more questions beat their way into my skull my headache worsened to the point where I was afraid I might collapse. But at the peak of what seemed like an endless stream of pain came a thought that caused my entire being to freeze. I stared wide eyed at the ground as I brought my hand in front of me.

'Who... Am I?'

The pain in my seemed like nothing compared to the ache left behind by that question. I was drawing a blank. No longer worried about WHERE I was, I began panicking about WHO I was.

Did I have a family? Friends? Where did I go to school? How old was I? What was my favorite color? What did I look like?

I looked up, I had fallen onto all fours and was breathing heavily. I looked at my hands, they were shaking. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

I decided it wouldn't benefit me any to just sit on a roof losing my mind. It was getting dark and I needed to try and find a way down.

Once again, I stood up and checked the roof for a way down. Luckily, I found a ladder that seemed to lead down to a fire escape for the building. I figured that would be my best bet.

I stumbled over to the ladder and began my decent. The building was only about six or-so stories tall, so even in the state I was in, I had no problem making my way to the alley below.

After taking a moment to compose myself, ensuring that I wouldn't stumble or pass out again, I stepped out towards the front of the building and onto the street.

The street lights had come on and even though the sun had just gone down, there were still plenty of people walking the street and going about their business. A variety of different shops selling a number of different goods lined both sides if the street. Things like clothes, food, electronics, and dust. Whatever that was.

I decided to walk along the sidewalk, as I had nothing better to do. As I passed by a cafe I happened to notice my reflection in the window and stopped to give myself a good look. Physically, I was nothing special. Kinda tall, kinda toned, just enough tan to not be considered pale. But the most prominent feature that I took account of was my hair. It was RED! I took a small step towards the glass and noticed that my hair was actually brown with a tuft of red that took up a good portion of the front in the shape of a star by the looks of it. I ran my hand through my hair, which came down to about a couple inches before my shoulders in the back, and continued to look at what I was wearing. A set of dark blue pants with a set of two belts and black high-top sneakers. I also had a slightly tactical looking jacket that was some shade of dark red that was open in the front to show off my black undershirt. I don't know what I thought about this outfit before, but I liked it now!

I smiled and backed away from the glass, accidentally bumping into someone walking behind me.

"Oh! Sorry about that..." I spun around coming face to face with a grey haired man wearing strange glasses and a green scarf. "...I didn't see you there."

"No harm done." He replies, pushed his glasses higher onto his nose. "But you should be sure to take better note of your surroundings. Not everyone is as forgiving as I am." He gave me a look that was stern, yet tolerant. I gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank you sir, I guess I'm a bit... distracted at the moment." I admitted, looking away and bringing my hand behind my head. When I looked back at him he was looking me up and down. After a few seconds he gave a small smile before speaking again.

"Would you like something to drink?

* * *

We sat across from each other inside the small cafe. I held an full glass of water in front of me as he drank his coffee. He had been staring at the newspaper in front of him for the past several minutes, and I was beginning to feel a bit on edge. Where had I seen this man before? I started to rub my head again.

"Are you alright?" I looked at him. He had turned his attention to me for the first time since we had sat down. I brought my hand back down.

"Just a headache." I tried to stop thinking about it, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew something about this man.

"Hmm..." He sipped his coffee again. "Do you know who I am?"

My head felt like it was going to explode! The answer was trying to beat it's way out of my head, I'm sure of it! I brought both hands up and grabbed the sides of my head, as if trying to hold it together. A hint of concern swept across the mans face.

"That seems like much more than 'Just a headache.'" He shook his head and chuckled. "Drink some water, it will help ease the pain."

"R-Right..." I picked up the glass in front of me and took a drink. It wasn't as cold as I had expected. Setting down the now empty cup I once again rubbed my head, trying to clear my mind. "Maybe I should go..." I stood to leave. "Thank you for the drink. Sorry for wasting your time professor." I made my way towards the door.

"Young man."

I looked back at the stranger sitting back at the table. He was still facing where I previously sat, and took another sip of his coffee. "Yes?"

"Curious." He said, unmoving. I looked around, confused.

"What's curious?" He looked at me from his seat. He had a small grin on his face.

"I don't recall ever stating that I was a professor. So I assume you know who I am?"

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoy this story. I've never actually written out any of my stories before and i figured i might as well start doing that. ^^;**

**Let me know what you guys think! (My writing will get better I promise! XD)**


	2. Chapter 2: What's In A Name

**Chapter 2: What's In A Name**

I blinked. Did I really just call him a professor? "I... I didn't... But..." I started shaking.

"It's clear that you know who I am." He motioned for me to sit back down, and being unable to think of anything else, I walked back to the table and once again sat across from him. "Now why don't you tell me who you are."

I sat in silence, unsure of how to answer that question. I just stared at the table in front of me. I glanced up and noticed that, unlike before, his full attention was now on me. I tried to think of something, anything to say to this man. But even trying to recall my own name caused me to want to tear my brain out of my skull. At this point, lying would probably just make the situation even worse. I looked up into the mans gold colored eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't know."

"You don't know who you are?" He raised an eyebrow in suspicion. I shook my head.

"I can't remember."

"Hmm..." He took another sip of coffee. (How much is in there?!) "That sounds quite troublesome." I raised a finger towards him.

"At this point, I think I know more about you than I do about myself." I stated, pointing my thumb at back at my chest. He brought up his own hand.

"Tell me, what do you remember?" Gesturing towards me.

"Not much." I said, shaking my head. "All I remember is waking up on a rooftop around sunset and then wandering around the streets for a few minutes before bumping into you."

"That's all?"

I nodded, "That's all."

With a sigh the professor closed his eyes, pushing his glasses up his nose as he did so. "It would appear that you may have a serious case of amnesia." He shook his head again and opened his eyes. "But I'm no doctor and am in no position to diagnose the memories of someone I've only just met."

"Well maybe if I go hit my head against the side of a building I'll remember something." I smiled, jokingly.

"Perhaps." Once again taking a sip from his cup. (Is there a waitress going around filling that thing while I'm not looking?!) "However, if your memories fail to return, what are you planning to do then?" He asked inquisitively.

I looked back down. "I don't know, keep moving I guess? Look for people that might know who I am?" I could feel his eyes staring across the table at me. Judging me. I didn't like it.

I shifted in my seat and went to put my hands in my jacket pockets. "Hmm?" My hand brushed up against something in my pocket. I pulled it out and held it in front of me. It was a key, or rather a key-chain. Upon inspection the key-chain itself was a key-shaped ornament with writing along one side that said, 'Memory is the Key.' We both looked at it and I just chuckled. It was kind of appropriate, given my current situation. I kicked myself for not checking my pockets earlier and began to rummage through them looking for anything else I might have missed. The only other thing I found, however, was a small silver multi-tool. I Stuffed it and the key-chain back into my pocket. I had been awake for less than an hour and the number of unanswered questions seemed to multiply every minute. "Why are you trying to help me?" I questioned.

"Would you have rather I didn't?" His eyes were trained on me.

"No, I didn't mean it like that, it's just..."

"Is helping someone in need of aid so wrong?"

"N-No, I appreciate it! Honestly!" I began waving my hands defensively as I was starting to get nervous again. Maybe I should just stop talking. I let out another sigh as I brought my arms back down. That's when something caught my eye... The newspaper he had been reading, it was sitting off to the side of the table. Maybe...

"Would you like to borrow it?" Apparently I had been staring at it longer than I thought... That or this man could read minds.

"May I?" I asked. He gave a quick nod and passed me the bundle of pages which I took greatfully. I looked at the name of the paper, 'The Vale Times'. Well that's a neat name. At least I knew where I was now. Not that it helped too much. I shifted my eyes to the main article, 'Dust Shipment Stolen'. Apparently an entire train car full of whatever this 'Dust' stuff is had been stolen by members of some organization called the White Fang... "The White Fang...?" I muttered to myself. Did these words mean something? Forcing back another headache I looked at the photo in the article, it was a logo in the shape of a snowflake by the look of it for the Schnee Dust Company, 'one of the largest producers and exporters of Dust in the world'. "Schnee Dust Company... Schnee. Schnee..." I stared at the image. "That name... Weiss...?"

Almost from no where, my head felt like an ice-pick had been plunged into it, I grabbed my head and cringed in pain as I tried to rid myself of the agony. The newspaper fell to the floor and small groans left my mouth as if to display my discomfort.

"Are you alright young man?" I couldn't see his face, but from the tone of his voice it was clear that he was concerned from my sudden outbursts. I felt the world clouding up around me as all of the questions that had added up in my head began to rip my mind apart, desperate for answers. I found myself falling to the floor as images and words that I didn't recognize flashed in front of me. The White Fang. The Faunus. Dust. Humanity. Grimm. Beacon. So many words. I could hear the worried voices of other patrons of the cafe but I couldn't make out what was being said. I was on my knees, praying for it to all stop. I tried to open my eyes, and when I did I saw Professor Ozpin kneeling in front of me with a troubled look on his face. Wait, why did I know his name? I tried to say something but no words would come out. All the while my brain was being bombarded with information that made it feel like it was being squeezed in a vice. I was beginning to think that I was surely going to pass out from the onslaught of pain, but almost as quick as it had started, there was silence.

* * *

After some time I finally came to my senses. I was sweating, my breathing was heavy, and I felt like I had just ran a marathon. As I tried to calm down my vision began to return.

"So you're awake..." I looked up to meet the gaze of... Some guy. I tried to stand up but only got about half way when my legs gave out beneath me, as I fell the man caught my arm and hoisted me back up. "Whoa there kid, you're not gonna pass out on us again right?" He helped lean me up against a nearby counter top, using it as balance I looked around. From the looks of it I was in the back room of the cafe, I could see the table I was sitting at through a small window. The whole place seemed to be empty. I returned my attention to the man standing before me. He was tall and muscular and wore a dark button up shirt with black pants. His skin was tanned and he had black hair that went back into a ponytail which reached the center of his back. He had a dish towel slung over his right shoulder and looked at me with a smirk on his face.

"What happened..?" I asked, running a hand through my hair. He chuckled and turned towards the nearby sink.

"You had a bit of an episode out there is what happened." He proceeded to wash the number of glasses and mugs that had been stacked next to the sink. "Yup. After your little scene I had to just about kick out every other customer that was here." My eyes widened.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" I was cut off by his sudden laughter as he turned towards me.

"Don't worry about it kid, I was getting ready to close up shop anyways." He gave me a wink as he smiled, "No harm done." I let out a sigh of relief. Being the cause of something like that? I would never forgive myself. "You did, however, manage to break a few glasses and a chair from all that thrashing around." Hang on, let me just pick my jaw up off the floor.

"I did WHAT?!" More laughter.

"Yeah, see for yourself." He motioned to the corner of the room. I couldn't believe what I saw, an entire wooden chair was in peices. It almost looked like a sledgehammer went through it! I could barely keep myself from passing out all evening, how could I destroy a chair like that?! I looked back to the man.

"I'm so sorry! I-I promise I'll pay for the damages." He cocked an eyebrow at me. I honestly didn't know how I was even going to do that, I didn't have any money, and it was obvious that he didn't believe me either. He just smiled. Well at least he had a good attitude about all of this.

"Perhaps we can work something out." He stacked a set of clean glasses in a cabinet opposite the sink as he spoke before turning to face me. "Tell you what, instead of having you sell the clothes off your back to pay me, just come see me here on Saturday mornings and I can give you some work to do for a while. What do you say?" I thought it over for a minute. It couldn't hurt, and I did owe him for what I did. Plus it didn't look like I had any other option at this point.

"I guess that seems fair. What day is today by the way?" It seemed like a dumb question to ask, but of course I needed to know.

"Haha, that tumble you took must have knocked the sense out of you more than I thought." He seemed amused by my query, I just rubbed the back of my head and let out a nervous chuckle. "Don't worry sport, I'm just having some fun with ya. It's Thursday." He shot me a sly looking grin as he began wiping down the counters. I smiled back and stood up, taking a second to make sure I could balance on my own two feet, and held out my hand.

"Thank you Mr..." He reached out and firmly grasped my extended hand.

"Jack Greene." I gave a nod.

"Thank you Mr. Greene."

"My pleasure. So what do I call you?" Well shit.

"M-Me?" He let out another small laugh.

"Well I can't just call you kid all the time now, can I?" There was no way I could talk my way out of this one. I had to say something! Come on brain, THINK! I prepared for another wave of discomfort as I tried to come up with a name I could use, but surprisingly, it never came. No skull splitting headache or irritation. Instead I saw an image of myself, almost as if I was looking at a photograph. I snapped out if it when I realized I had spoken without meaning to. Jack had his smile on his face as he shook my hand once more before releasing it.

"Nice to meet you, Hiro." Hiro... Was that my name? It felt so simple. It felt right. I had a name! I had a sense of relief come over me, until I realized that I had nearly forgotten something else...

"What happened to Professor Ozpin?" I was glad I actually remembered his name now.

"Ozpin?" He jerked his thumb to the door of the cafe, "Yeah he stepped outside a few minutes ago, said he had to make a call or something." Looking over his shoulder out the window I saw Ozpin standing next to a street light. He seemed to be speaking into some sort of device, but he put it away in his pocket before I could get a good look at it. He walked back over to the door and pushed it open as I walked over to meet him. My legs seemed to have gotten all of the feeling back into them at this point, so I was able to make it into the dining area without problems.

"You gave us quite a scare young man." A hint of relief was shown on the professor's face. "How do you feel?" I brought my hand up to my shoulder as I cracked my neck.

"I've felt better, but thanks for asking." He gave a nod.

"Of course. Now, care to explain what all of that was?"

"Well..." I scratched the back of my head, "I think I Got my memories back." He raised an eyebrow at my statement.

"Just like that?" I began waving my hands in a defensive gesture.

"W-Well, not completely! I've got some of them back.. But there's still a lot I don't quite remember..." He smiled at me.

"Alright then. So perhaps you can answer my first question." I looked at him puzzlingly. His first question? Then I understood and smiled. He just gave me a nod, "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon." The words seemed to flow, as if I've always known. Ozpin seemed satisfied with my response.

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you." I didn't care how I knew half the things I had remembered, I was just glad I could remember something. I figured it'll come back to me eventually.

"Now who do I owe the honor of meeting today?" His subtle grin seemed contageous as I mirrored it back to him and held out my hand.

"It's Hiro. Hiro Colton." Ozpin reached out and shook my hand.

* * *

**Thank you to those who fav/followed this story, it really means a lot to me that you guys actually like it. ^^**

**These first few chapters are mainly to allow me a chance to introduce the characters that aren't actually in the series. Oh! Before I forget, I feel like a lot of people might read 'Hiro' as ****_'Hero'._**** That's actually not the case, when I made this name I originally pictured it as saying ****_'High-Row'._**** More of an "eye" sound instead of an "eee" sound. Just figured I should clarify that here. **

**Deco: Thanks for the review! I felt like dropping the character somewhere where he knows everything from the get-go would be a bit simple and predictable in the long run. So I added it as a twist.~**

**SakuraNights01: It's a pleasure to see you here friend. ;) Thank you for the compliment, I'll do my best to keep the story detailed well. I tend to do better detailing in some parts over others, hope you like it~!**

**I'll try and get the next chapter out by Monday and will go for two chapters a week unless I am limited by time, in which case it will be once a week instead. That being said, You guys all have an AWESOME weekend! Stay Gold!**


	3. Chapter 3: Stepping Up

**I apologize for taking so long to update! It's been really hectic around here and I haven't had much time to just sit down and write, and when I did I had really bad writers block. I hope this chapter makes up for it! ^_^;**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Stepping up**

Lightning struck the ground just a few yards away as I ran through the mud and rain. Dozens of tree branches reaching out in front as if to grab hold of me as I passed by. I heard the voices behind me, the voices were relentless in their attempts to catch me as I fled into the night. My heartbeat pounded in my chest harder than I ever thought was possible. Another flash and the forest was on fire, my chances for escape slowly burning up along with it. I looked over my shoulder at my pursuers but only saw the glow of their flashlights in the distance. I would not be able to run forever, I was already beginning to slow down as I crashed through the tree line into a clearing. There was another explosion, much closer than the last ones. It sent a numbing feeling up my arm as I brought it up to protect my eyes from light. Fear crept over me, there was no where to hide and I would not be able to run forever. There was nothing left but for me to accept my fate.

* * *

I awoke in a cold sweat, my heavy breathing was matched only by the pounding in my head. I sat up on the bed as I tried to calm down. The room was in the same state as it had been last night, and by the looks of it the sun had already risen outside. I stretched and shook my head, put the thought of whatever nightmare I just had behind me, and hopped out of bed on to the smooth wooden floors. I walked over to the dresser in the corner of the room and opened it, revealing a neat stack of my clothes for the day, minus the pants of course which I had slept in. I proceeded to get dressed and once I made sure I had everything, walked over to the nearby window on the wall opposite the dresser and opened it, letting in a cool breeze and the slight smell of coffee which I'm sure was coming from downstairs. I stood there letting the breeze brush across my face for a minute before finally closing the window and leaving the room. I was lucky that Professor Ozpin knew Jack and was able to convince him to allow me to stay in the spare room of his home, which was just one floor up from the cafe. I made my way down the hall and went downstairs into the back of the cafe.

"Ah, look who's awake." I looked over at Jack, hard at work preparing different orders from the half a dozen or so customers that I could see in the dining area. "Sleep well?"

"Well enough." I said, taking a seat at the bar counter. "Busy morning?"

"What, this?" He gestured to the dining area, "This is nothing. I can handle twice this many people without any trouble. I tilted my head off to one side.

"Really? Saturdays must be pretty busy then." Jack placed a small plate of bacon and eggs in front of me along with a glass of water. I felt a low growl emerge from what I could only assume was my stomach. I guess losing your memory doesn't make you any less hungry. I grabbed the nearby fork and took a large bite of the meal in front of me. And then another. And another. It was so good!

"I take it you like my cooking?" Jack let out a small chuckle as i gave a nod, my moth full of deliciousness. Soon the plate was empty and I was satisfied. I finished up by downing the glass of water before returning it to the table with a sigh.

"Thank you for the breakfast Jack. I didn't know I was that hungry." Jack smiled back at me.

"Hungry? Kid that was half a serving of food. If that was you being hungry, then you must have the stomach the size of my thumb!" He let out a laugh as I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. Jack then collected the cup and plate and put them in the sink to be washed as I stood up from my seat. "Heading out?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I think some fresh air will do me some good. Plus I kinda want to see what's around here." I started to head for the door.

"Well the shop closes at ten o'clock tonight, so be back before then." He cocked a smile, "Otherwise you'll be locked out all night." I smiled and gave the man a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before then." I turned and left the building, breathing in the cool morning air as I did so.

There was a slight smell of freshly baked bread and other different foods as I walked along the street. I decided not to wander too far at first, choosing to stay within a few blocks of the cafe, which, to my amusement, I found was named 'The Dusty Spoon'. Most of the buildings around the area seemed to be mainly small shops and restaurants, with the occasional dust or weapon shop here and there. I eventually found a small city park a few blocks away that was a great change in atmosphere from the tall buildings and busy streets that I had seen so far. I decided to lay beneath one of the larger trees and enjoy the peace and quiet with a bit of a nap.

"If it weren't for my lack of memory- *Yawn* -this place wouldn't be too bad..." Other park-goers were enjoying their time out in the sun around me as I slowly began to let sleep take over. I took a deep breath as I awaited my slumber, as I was drifting off, however, I began to hear some commotion coming from nearby in the park.

"Hey man, just leave us alone..." "Why are you being such a jerk?" Something was going on. Something that I didn't like the sound of. I sat up and looked around for the source of the sound. It didn't take long for me to find out where it was coming from. Not far from where I was resting, was a couple that were sitting on a bench surrounded by a small group of what appeared to be bullies that were harassing them. The thing that really struck me as odd, however, was that one of the couple seemed to have a set of what I can only describe as mouse ears protruding from her head. She seemed to be holding on tight to the boy next to her out of what was obviously fear. The young man didn't look much better, but held her in his arms to protect her from the men that surrounded them.

"It's only natural that a science geek would fall in love with a lab rat," One of the bullies chimed, " I guess this must be a field experiment, eh?"

"I hope you don't mind if we add a few more variables to their test now, would you?" The larger of the group grabbed the couple and pulled them apart easily, despite their attempts to hold onto one another. The four of them took the boy, leaving the girl on the bench, and began to push him around in a circle between him. Laughing as they did so.

"Please don't hurt him! Somebody stop them!" There were tears in the mouse girls eyes as she cried out. Nearby onlookers merely watched the spectacle unfold, most of them to afraid to do anything that would defy the gangs actions. I was on my feet as well now, watching the events in front of me, unsure of what to do. My hands were shaking, and I could feel a bead sweat drip down my neck. I had to do something. The girls screams rang in my ears as time slowed down in front of me. At first, I thought I was just imagining things, but when I blinked, I realized that literally, time had slowed down. Everything was moving at a slightly slower pace, including myself, but I actually saw it al from a normal perspective. Before I could question it further, time seemed to correct itself and I realized that I was breathing rather hard. I looked at my hands, clenched tightly together and shaking. Was I really going to do this? It only took one more cry from the girl for me to make my decision. I walked forward.

"Hey!" I must be crazy. The second they heard me the entire gang, no... The entire park was looking at me, the crazy idiot that pretty much just signed his own death sentence.

"What do you want freak?!" The big guy called out. They seemed just as shocked as everyone else was. I looked over at the bench,I almost wish I hadn't. The mouse girl was looking at me with hope in her eyes. I could just feel the pressure and anticipation emanating from her and the crowd. I looked back to the bullies, doing my best to hide all traces of fear from my own eyes.

"There are a lot of things going on here, that I really don't like." I took another step forward, crossing my arms, "Leave the kid alone before things get any worse here." Good. Bluff it out. Bluffing is good... Right?

"Are you trying to threaten us pipsqueak?" The big guy walked closer to where I stood, almost confused that someone would be standing up to them. Honestly, I was about as confused as he was. He nodded his head to the boy and his three friends pulled him over to the bench, keeping them captive and away from where I was. He shook his head with a small laugh, "You really don't know your place here, do you?" Quick... Need a witty response...

"And you really don't know how to shower now, do you?" SHIT. TOO WITTY. I saw a scowl appear on his face as he cracked his fists in front of himself.

"You wanna try that one again, PAL?"

"Oh I'm sorry, did I say 'shower'? I meant to say 'speak.'" Dammit Hiro stop being a smart-ass! One of the three bullies by the bench decided to speak his mind.

"Kick his ass Cardin!" ...Cardin? that name seemed familiar... It made me even more scared and even more angry, but I couldn't get anything else from that word that I knew wouldn't lead me to a headache. And now is really not the time for one of those.

"Time to teach you some manners." He was right in front of me now, and he looked a lot bigger up close. I saw his left arm reel back and knew what was coming, I dodged under his swing and circled around behind him. Before I could recover though, he spun around and struck me in the side with the back of his right fist. I flew a few yards before hitting the ground and somehow managed to flip back onto my feet. He was like an animal! He had a grin on his face as he stood upright and began to walk towards me yet again to finish the 'lesson'. If I knew how to fight before, I certainly don't remember now.

I brought my hands up hoping to at least look like I knew what I was doing. No sooner did I do that did the brute charge at me, full speed. I brought my arms up just in time to block the punch that was aimed directly at my face. The force sent me sliding backwards, feet unable to keep traction on the soft grass, and I slammed my back into a tree. I released a small cry in pain as I fell down to one knee, trying to force myself to stay on my feet. Using the tree as an aide, I stood up once again. Cardin was already closing in on me, I took a swing and he easily caught it in his own paw of a hand. "I told you, you just don't know your place here, do you?" He had a twisted smile as he said those words. He slowly began to crush my right hand in his own.

The pain started to bring me back to my knees as I gritted my teeth. There was no way I could win against this monster. My actions have done nothing but make me get involved in something that I had no business with, and my mouth only seemed to make it worse. I took another swing with my free arm, but it too was caught. I was running out of options, I would lose both hands if I didn't get out of this soon. So I did the only thing I could do. The only thing that would get me out of this was the emergency, code-red attack that always worked against people like Cardin. I forced myself one again to my feet, which in itself was a struggle. Cardin seemed to be toying with me, so sure of his victory. I then brought my foot as far back as I could manage, and then proceeded to swing it forward as hard as I could, straight in front of me.

"Place this!" Impact. I saw lights go off in Cardin's head as he let my hands go with a scream. He fell to his knees as I stepped aside, I couldn't stop there. I spun and roundhouse kicked him in the back of the head, sending him face first into the tree. I lost balance myself on the soft grass and fell on my butt. I could almost see the stars spinning around his head as I stood back up, my adrenaline helping me block out the pain. I looked back to the bench, the other bullies looked flabbergasted at what they saw. Big-guy Cardin was flat on his face due to some nobody punk in the park. I started to walk towards them but was cut short by a certain meat-heads grumblings coming from behind me. I looked back at Cardin and realized that he was getting back up.

"You're gonna get it now you little BRAT!" There was fire in his eyes as he looked over at me. I couldn't help it as I felt more cockiness escape my lips.

"Bring it tiny." Why can't I shut my mouth. I prepared for another onslaught of Cardin's attacks when I heard the sound of sirens in the distance.

"Cardin! We have to go!" The group shoved their way past me to their leader, almost knocking me to the ground yet again. Apparently someone had called the police during our scuffle, which would explain why I wasn't being beaten to a pulp right now. Cardin just glared at me before turning and walking out of the park, his gang not far behind. I let out a sigh as I fell to my knees, I was exhausted. my side hurt, my head hurt, my hand felt numb. I felt like I could pass out right then and there. I looked around, the crowd was starting to disperse, returning to their previous activities. What was I doing before this? Oh right. Sleep. That sounds good right about now. I was about to fall forward onto the grass in front of me when I realized I was not alone. I looked up in front of me and saw the girl from earlier. She had long brown hair and wore glasses on her face. Her eyes were shade of green and you could tell just by looking at them that she had been crying. Before I could say anything she dropped down and gave me a tight hug. I just sat there a few seconds before returning the gesture, letting a soft smile onto my face.

"Thank you." She whispered. She held me a little tighter before finally letting go and returning to her feet. The boy had now walked over and quickly gave her a hug as well, relieved that she was okay. He then looked down at me and extended a hand. I took it gratefully and stood up.

"Thank you for what you did for us." He said. "The both of us really appreciate what you did." He put his arm around her and they held each other close.

"I just did what I thought was right. I couldn't just let them do that to you two." I started scratching the back of my head as I said this, trying to play it off like it was nothing. Before I could think of anything else, the girl grabbed my hand and stuffed something into it before speaking.

"It's not much... But I hope it's enough to repay you for your kindness..." She closed my hand and pushed it to my chest. The couple then waved goodbye and walked off back into the park, leaving me standing there speechless. I opened my fist and found a small handful of what appeared to be paper money. Lien was it? I wasn't exactly sure how much I had been given but it didn't matter. I shoved it into my pocket and walked back over to the original tree to lay down and take a much needed nap. I might be sore, but I felt happy knowing that I had helped someone today. I was only laying down for a few seconds before I had finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon by the time I finally opened my eyes. I almost didn't want to move knowing full well how much pain I would be in, but I couldn't lay in the park forever. After some internal debating, I slowly got back to my feet. The numbness in my hand was gone, and I had a few aches and pains here and there, but it all seemed bearable for now. I cracked my neck and did my best to stretch out and relieve some of the stress before finally beginning my walk back into the city.

Halfway back to Jack's cafe I happened to pass by what appeared to be a secondhand weapons shop. I stopped and peered through the window at the assorted swords, knives, and firearms. I felt I should at least look around and see if I can find something I could use for self defense. Just in case I ran into Cardin and his 'Posse' again. I walked through the door and was immediately spotted by an elderly woman behind the counter who I could only assume was the shopkeeper here. She smiled as I walked in.

"Why hello there young man, can I help you find anything today?" She had a kind tone in her voice that made me feel welcome. I smiled back at her.

"Not at the moment, really. I'm just looking around is all." She nodded at me.

"Well let me know if you have any questions." She then returned to a nearby seat and sat down, pushing her glasses back up to her face before returning to the book she seemed to be reading. I took the opportunity to look around at everything the shop had to offer. Most of the equipment looked quite old or worn, but each and every one of them appeared to have been very clean and well taken care of. Another thing I noticed is that almost all of it seemed VERY expensive. I only had the fistful of Lien that the mouse girl had given me, and I wasn't even sure how currency worked here yet! I started to feel a little nervous but continued to look around a bit more before heading back to the counter.

"Did you find anything deary?" The lady had looked up from her book to speak to me. I scratched the back of my head.

"Actually I don't think anything here is in my price range yet. I'll have to come back another time." She smiled.

"Well let's see what you have to work with and maybe we can find you something that might be a bit more affordable." She stood from her chair and walked over to the counter while I pulled out the Lien from before. I placed it on the counter and she began to count it before I saw a small frown appear on her face. Oh well, it was worth a shot anyways. I was about to say something when I saw that the shopkeeper actually had a look of deep thought in her face. After a moment or two, she went below the counter and began rummaging around for something. When she reappeared she had a small, rectangular box in front of her. She opened it and revealed a long knife, the blade being about 10 inches long. Not exactly a short sword, but it would do. "The handle has a small chamber for dust that can be used to infuse the blade with power. It only holds about one charge's worth, so use it sparingly." I gave a nod as she handed it to me.

"Thank you so much, do I really have enough for this?"

"You have just enough dear. I'll even throw in a sheath for it."

"Thank you so much!" I examined the knife in my hands, easily finding the mechanism in the black handle that controlled the dust, and where it was loaded. The edge of the blade itself was sharp and there was an intricate design along the sides that shaped the image of a shield and cross-swords in the silver metal. I slid the knife into its sheath and attached it sideways on the back of my belt to allow for an easy, behind-the-back equip for my right hand. The lower part of my jacket was able to cover it up to help avoid any strange looks it might attract, which was a plus. The shopkeeper had already finished putting the Lien away in the register by the time I had finished adjusting my new weapon. "How do I look?" I turned to the side, showing her the hidden blade. She smiled.

"I think it suits you rather well young man." Satisfied with my purchase, I said my goodbyes to the kind lady and returned to the streets to begin my journey back to 'The Dusty Spoon' . I had ended today with the same amount of Lien I had started with, and a few more bruises than I would have liked, but I'd say today was well worth it.

*Growwwwwl*

Oh right... Food. I decided to get back to the cafe as quick as possible, hoping that Jack would have something that I could eat tonight.

* * *

**I had a lot of fun making this chapter. It felt a lot easier making the fight scene between Hiro and Cardin than the rest of the the chapter because It doesn't require too much dialogue, which is one of my harder points in my opinion.**

**Vangour: I'm doing my best to tell Hiro's story without just making him like a "Mary Sue" or someone who just knows everything. Thank you for your support, I'll keep doing my best to make the story interesting! :)**

**SakuraNights01: I did my best to keep everything as similar to the world of Remnant as I could, given my limited information about some of the character's personalities and such. I'm glad you enjoy the story so far! ^^**

**I'll try and keep writing this story where I can, I don't plan on leaving this story unfinished, and with the new volume of RWBY coming out, I have even more drive to keep writing this FF. I'll see you guys next chapter! Stay Gold~**


	4. Chapter 4: Ruby Rose

**Chapter 4: Ruby Rose**

I stared at the ceiling of the room I had been sleeping in, well, if you could call it sleeping. Every time I tried to close my eyes I would be brought back to the forest. It was always the same, starting with me running through a storm. I was being chased by a number of bright lights with no idea where I was going. It was almost like watching a movie, but... It felt so real that I couldn't help but be woken up by it. Eventually I had given up on sleep and just lay there waiting. I looked over to the window, a hint of sunrise shown over the top of the city.

"I guess I'd better get ready for work. Ugh..." After two nights of minimal sleep, working was the LAST thing I would want to do. I did agree to helping out today, though... So I figured I'd better keep my word on the matter. With great reluctance, I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled over to the cabinet to get dressed as I recounted the events of the night before. After returning to 'The Dusty Spoon', Jack was kind enough to have prepared another meal for me that was basically a fried chicken sandwich and some lemon-lime flavored drink which I enjoyed before heading up to the spare room for the night. I spent some time toying with my new knife before I finally decided to take a shower and try to get some sleep.

With a yawn I slipped on my red jacket and, after much consideration, strapped my new weapon to the back of my belt to be safe. Once I was sure that I had it covered with my jacket, I headed downstairs where I was immediately welcomed by a delightful aroma coming from the kitchen. I took in the pleasant smell of Jack's cooking as I reached the bottom of stairs. "I gotta hand it to you Jack, you sure know how to make a simple breakfast smell like a five-star meal." I complimented as Jack poked his head out from beyond the serving window, a big smile on his face as always.

"Good morning to you too, Hiro. I assume you're ready for your first day of work here at The Spoon?" I walked behind the front desk and looked at him through the window.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I smirked and gave the man a thumbs up, "So, what exactly am I going to be doing here? I'm not going to be working that stove of yours, am I?" He cocked an eyebrow at me before bursting out into laughter.

"If you think I'm letting just anyone cook food here while I'm still kickin' and breathin', you might as well be as crazy as the White Fang." He continued to laugh a bit more before he resumed speaking. "No, you'll be right where you're standing for the most part, working the register and passing me the customers orders. I'll cook, you'll serve them drinks, and we keep this place running like a well oiled machine. Think you can handle that?"

I crossed my arms in thought. COULD I handle this? "I'm pretty sure I can do that, I just have one question..."

"Hm?" He paused there holding two plates, which I'm sure was our completed breakfast. "What is it?" I glanced off to the side as I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment.

"I... was just wondering... if you could explain to me... how Lien worked...?"

Silence...

When I finally looked up at his face he appeared as though I just asked him if rocks floated on lava. His smile had faded and he just blinked at me a few times before shaking his head and letting out a deep breath.

"Man... Ozpin told me you had memory issues, but..." He walked around to where I stood and handed me a plate. "Take a seat kid, I'm going to give you a crash course on Lien here... Currency 101." He took a quick glance at the clock above the serving window, letting out a small sigh. "I hope you're a fast learner..."

* * *

Saying that I was given a 'crash course' on how to use Lien, was an understatement. With only fifteen minutes until the opening, Jack Greene crammed as much information as he could into my head about the different forms of Lien, how to give change, how much each item in the cafe was worth, and anything else he could think of before the cafe was open for business. When the first few customers began to trickle in, he stood by my side as I took their orders and made the transactions. After feeling satisfied on my ability to do simple math and give correct change, he proceeded into the kitchen and began working on the requested meals.

I was slow at first, but I began to speed up as I became more and more confident in what I was doing. Until...

"I'd like some pancakes with a side of eggs and bacon." "Can I get the 'Dusty Special'?" "Get me another serving of these hashbrowns!" "Oh wait, I'll have some hashbrowns too!" "Can I change my order to eggs with sausage instead?" "More ketchup please!" "Less ketchup please!"

Whoa... Whoa! WHOA! WHERE DID ALL THESE PEOPLE COME FROM?! The calm atmosphere of the cafe was lost beneath a sea of neverending requests for service! Keeping up with the onslaught of orders was nearly impossible as I haphazardly scrambled around behind the counter passing the orders to Jack while delivering the already completed orders to the awaiting customers.

"JACK! WE NEED MORE HASHBROWNS OUT HERE!" I was in a state of panic as I jotted down another order and almost threw it through the serving window to Jack. In great contrast to my actions, Jack had a somewhat serene demeanor as he quickly, yet ever so calmly, completed each and every order made by the customers of his beloved cafe.

"Coming right up, Hiro." I didn't even acknowledge his reply; with so many people lining up to give their order, I couldn't let my focus falter for even a moment. Everything was happening so quickly, yet at the same time I felt as though things were going slower than they should be. My adrenaline must have been working in order for me to be able to keep pace with the rest of the cafe. It was probably the only thing keeping me going as the day rolled on, and almost as quickly as it had started...

"It's... over..."

I collapsed to my knees, catching myself with my hands before I fell any lower. "I would rather... Fight Cardin... Than go through all that... EVER AGAIN." I was breathing heavily between words as I tried to re-compose myself. The afternoon sun was shining through cafe windows and the dining area was empty, save for a few customers, and my shift had finally ended, leaving me completely drained of all energy in the back of the kitchen. It took me a minute or two before I could gather up the energy to slowly get back to my feet.

"You did a good job, kid." I felt a hand slap me on the shoulder causing me to stumble downwards for a moment as I tried to maintain my footing. I spun around to speak but came face-to-face with a white envelope. I blinked once or twice before peering past it, meeting Jack's gaze as he just smiled and nodded to me. I looked back at the envelope, and after a moment's hesitation, slowly took it from his outstretched hand to open it. "I already took out the amount you owe me for the chair and glasses, so the rest is all yours."

Wait... was he... PAYING me? I knew I was working to pay off the damage I had caused the other night, but I never expected to actually be paid as well! I took a look at the contents of the envelope and was shocked at how much I had actually made in just one day. "Jack... Are you really giving this to me? I don't know what to say." I looked back up at him. "Thank you." He just smiled at me.

"Hey, you earned it. Working here ain't no walk in the park, I know, but you held it together a lot better than I thought you would. I figured you might as well have something to show for all of your hard work." I felt his hand on my shoulder as he finished talking, and I just smiled back at him. "One more thing before I let you go,"

"Hmm?" He pointed his thumb off to the side.

"Do you mind taking the kitchen trash out with you?"

* * *

I still couldn't believe how much Lien Jack had actually given me! After taking the trash out to a dumpster in the alley, I decided to make my way around town to spend some of my earnings. I had to to force myself to spend my money wisely, since there were more important things that needed to be bought before anything else. I bought a small red gym bag from a nearby store and began my shopping excursion.

After a couple of hours and about half a dozen shops, only a small amount of my Lien remained. My bag, previously empty, now contained a toothbrush and toothpaste, a towel, some soap, and various articles of clothing which more or less matched what I was currently wearing. I also bought some pajama bottoms and a new black T-shirt with a logo on the front to sleep in.

Slinging my bag across my back, I began my walk back to Jack's. The sun had gone down at this point, and my exhaustion from earlier in the morning was beginning to take its toll. The crowded streets were beginning to thin out as I walked along the sidewalk. I was only about a block away from the cafe when something caught my eye. I stopped walking and watched as someone entered the dust shop across the street. I only saw them for a moment and didn't see their face, but... something was keeping me rooted to the sidewalk. Something that gave me a headache. Did I maybe… know that person...?

I rubbed my eyes and tried to think about why they caught my eye. Maybe it was what they were wearing? I mean, red is my favorite color (I think...). So maybe that was it? But this headache must mean that I know them from somewhere. If I know who they are maybe they know who I am! Considering that logic, I made my way to the front of the store and pushed open the door.

Long cylinders full of what I can only imagine could be dust lined both sides of the shop. I suppose the different colors must represent the type of dust it was. The center of the shop had shelves with an assortment of different containers, jars, and other dust-related products.

"Can I help you find anything?" My gaze snapped back in front of me as a grey-haired man walked up to the counter. He seemed rather old and his hair looked like he had gone through a wind tunnel. (Not that I'm one to talk...)

"Um, I'm just looking around, is all. Thanks." I looked around the store, but didn't see the person I had followed in here.

"Is there anything in particular you might be looking for?"

"I'm not sure, really. I don't know too much about dust, to be honest." I figured I might as well learn something while I'm here, since I'll be able to tell if someone leaves the store. The man just smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry, you're not the first. Do you at least know what you plan to use it for?"

"Yeah, this here." I reached back and unsheathed my weapon, setting it on the counter in front of me.

"Ah... A fine blade. May I?" He gestured to the knife, I gave him a nod in return before he gently picked it up and began examining it. "Hmm... The chamber looks like it might hold one of the smaller capsules. One moment." I watched as he walked towards the back of one of the aisles to retrieve a small item from the shelf. He returned with a small oval-shaped container in his hand. "It's a simple device that holds the perfect amount of dust that you need for any use. We have them in different sizes but this one should work for what you need."

I set my bag on the floor and took the small object in my own hand, examining it. It had a kind of bronze coloring to it with four transparent glass slits that you could see the insides through. A few of these would definitely make it much easier to load dust into the handle without having to carry a jar of the stuff everywhere I go. I bought four of them with almost all the money I had left, and the shopkeeper was kind enough to give a quick explanation of what the different kinds of dust could be used for.

After some thinking, I decided to fill two of them with red dust, while the others held blue and yellow dust. I was nearly broke at this point and couldn't afford any pouches to hold them in, so I just stuffed them in my jacket pocket for now. I re-slung my bag and turned to the old man.

"Thanks for your help. Hey, you didn't happen to see someone in red walk in here did you?" He smiled and pointed his thumb towards the back of the store.

"Oh, I figure she's probably in the back by the magazines again." I chuckled.

"Again? I take it she's a regular then?"

"Oh, yes. She comes here about once a week to get the new issue of-"

He stopped. I watched his smile quickly fade and the color leave his face. Concerned, I was about to ask if he was okay when I heard the door open behind me causing me to turn around. I was immediately shoved aside before I got the chance to see just who had entered the store.

Once I finally noticed who was standing at the counter, I froze. I couldn't tell what was scarier: the man in the white coat, or the fact that I knew who he was. Nothing seemed to make sense as I watched the scene play out in my mind, barely a second before it actually happened in real time before me. The only difference was that one of the goons that had followed him in was also pointing a gun at my head.

"Hand it over."

I almost didn't hear him at first. I was still shocked by the fact that Roman Torchwick was here, and more so that I actually knew his name. I didn't even have to hear what he was saying to know what was happening. He wanted the dust crystals from the display counter.

"I said, hand it over!" I brought myself back to reality and stared at the gun being pointed at my face. "I won't ask you again!" The goon pointed at the handle of my knife with his free hand as I put my hands up by my face in surrender.

"W-whoa, whoa, whoa, man. It's cool. Just gonna take a second, okay?" Another thug passed next to us and began collecting some dust from the wall as I slowly brought my hand down towards the handle. "See? Nice and easy, right?" I could feel his eyes watching me through his dark sunglasses.

I did my best to stall for time. I somehow knew what was happening and was hoping that I could at least remember how this would end. I glanced past the black suited gunman when I noticed that one of his buddies had drawn his sword across the store. Apparently someone else had caught his attention- WAIT! The girl in red! She was here, too! My head was throbbing as I tried to piece together an escape. My hand had reached the handle of my knife at this point.

"Now bring it out and toss it on the floor at your feet." I felt a bead of sweat run down my face as I removed the blade from the sheath.

*SLAM*

A robber hit the ground near the other wall. The gunman twitched his head to the side but didn't lower his weapon. I watched as Torchwick, leaning on the counter, gestured to another of his lackeys to go check it out. My blade was in front of me, I just had to wait for the right moment.

"Put it on the ground, kid. You're wasting my time." He took a step closer to me as he said this. I watched as the other lackey ran around the last aisle and disappeared.

"Freeze!"

*CRASH*

I saw a red figure smash the other gunman through the far window and into the street. The man holding me hostage looked away at the sudden sound of shattering glass, lowering his weapon just enough for me to act. I jumped up and knocked the gun further to the side, catching the thug off guard. "What?!" I continued my movement with a spin before smashing the butt of my knife into the back of his skull, sending him staggering forward. Thinking on my feet, I grabbed a bag of dust from a nearby shelf and threw it at his face as he turned around, causing a yellow powder to be sprayed everywhere. "GAH! IT'S IN MY EYES!" I saw the open opportunity and ducked behind a set of shelves.

"Get those brats!" Torchwick did not sound pleased about what was happening. Two more of his goons ran over, swords drawn, to assist their partner. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my yellow dust canister, hastily shoving it into the hilt of my blade.

"Red light sale!" I shouted. The two thugs shifted their attention to me as I revealed myself. "Yellow Dust now at SHOCKINGLY low prices!" I pushed the button by my thumb, activating the Dust within the handle. It immediately sent its energy to the blade, causing it to glow a golden color as sparks crackled around it. I swung the knife in a downward arc, sending a wave of electricity flying straight at their feet. The dust scattered around the floor ignited and discharged its energy into those foolish enough to be standing directly on top of it. The hair on my arms stood on end for a moment before three bodies hit the floor with a 'thud'.

After making sure that the electricity had died down, I ran over to the gunman's limp form and snatched up his weapon before taking cover behind a nearby aisle. Roman and the rest of the robbers had ran outside to deal with the girl in red, and from the sound of it, it wasn't going well. I looked over at the counter and saw the shopkeeper peering over the top of it, watching everything happening outside take place.

"Are you okay?!" I called out, causing him to jump in surprise. He looked at me and nodded. I sheathed my knife and ran over towards the doorway to look outside.

"Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening," It was Torchwick. He was talking to the girl in red by the sound of it. I peered through the open door to get a good look and was surprised at how young she actually was. But even more surprising was the size of the weapon she was holding; it was huge! A scythe by the looks of it, as red as the color of the red hood she was wearing. "And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways." He pointed his cane at the girl. My eyes went wide, and I left the safety of the doorway pointing the gun straight at Roman.

"Look out!" Too late.

*BOOM*

Before I could pull the trigger, an explosion rocked the street, blinding me for a moment. My vision rushed back as a red figure landed in the middle of the intersection. Torchwick had disappeared. The girl stood and stared at me with her silver eyes for a moment, but now was not the time for greetings. We both looked around the street for any sign of the criminal, he couldn't have gotten far. My eyes scanned the nearby buildings until-

"There!" I pointed to a ladder across the street. He was climbing up to the roof of a building. 'Red' looked back at the shopkeeper who was now stood in the doorway.

"You okay if we go after him?" He gave an affirmative-sounding noise in response.

"Let's go!" I held the gun in my hand as I ran over to the ladder. It was too large to fit in my pockets so I had to hold it as I began to climb as fast as I could. I had made it about halfway up when I heard a BANG as the girl launched herself up to the roof.

We had him cornered; he had nowhere to run. After a few seconds I made it to the top and saw how wrong I really was. As I stood on the roof of the building, I helplessly watched as Roman boarded an airship across from us. He turned back to us as it took to the skies. I ran up next to 'Red' and prepared to open fire.

"END OF THE LINE, RUNTS!" He screamed over the sound of the engines before tossing a large red crystal that landed a couple of yards in front of us. I watched as Roman lifted his cane and fired another shot straight at the crystal before we could react.

Impact.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho!" Roman's laughter made its way to my ears along with a slight whirring sound coming from right in front of me. I opened my eyes to see someone in a purple cape standing before me holding what I can only describe as a magic wand. The way she was dressed was almost a cross between a witch and a secretary. I looked to my side to find that the scythe girl seemed to have the same look of shock that I did, but with a little more 'awe'. I shifted my gaze back to the witch and watched as she sent bolts of energy into the side of the airship, causing Torchwick to stumble around before disappearing from view.

"Whoa..." I looked back to the girl, she had a greater look of awe on her face than before. Almost like she was watching a movie instead of being three feet from a battle. Not that I was doing any better. She turned to me, squealing, "This is awesome!" I gave a slight smile in return.

"Awesome is... one way of putting it I suppose..." We returned our attention to our protector, whom had started to glow a slight shade of purple before sending sending another blast of energy above the craft. At the flick of her wrist, the resulting storm-cloud sent large crystals of hail flying towards the ship causing moderate damage to outer hull.

As I once again shake off the feeling of deja vu, I noticed another figure on the airship. Fire pulsed around their form for a moment, before a burst of energy was launched towards us. The witch blocked it, but the flame splattered behind her, glowing hotter with the enemy's raised hand.

Backflipping away from the subsequent explosion, she used her wand to gather up the scattered debris from the damaged rooftop, shaping it into a large spear before launching it at the craft. Several blasts of fire struck the projectile several times, but it instantly reformed before colliding with the side of the hull. The wreckage then reshaped into more spears that circled the ship, but the fiery enemy destroyed them before they were able to do any damage.

*Bang* *Bang*

Gunshots snapped me back to my senses as I realized that I had been staring at the battle the entire time, doing nothing to help. I took aim at the ship along with my new ally and let off a few rounds at the cockpit. My shots seemed to just bounce off the side of the ship, while even more surprisingly, the shots that burst from the girl's massive scythe were blocked by the woman's bare hands.

"Come on!" I cursed under my breath. Looking down, I noticed red circles starting to take shape at our feet. I brought my eyes up towards the girl, it seemed she hadn't noticed the danger yet.

"Oh- Give me a break! Ruby, RUN!" She turned, surprised, as I ran towards her.

"W-What? How do you know my-" Her eyes went wide as she noticed what was happening. I could feel the heat burning beneath me as I tried to close the distance between us as fast as possible. Moments before reaching her, I realized my feet were no longer making contact with the rooftop as the pair of us were flung forward by an unseen force. I landed on my side, and it only took me a moment before I got to my feet just in time to watch the enemy fly off into the distance.

*Sigh* Well, that was... something... My head hurt more than anything, but that was nothing new at this point. I should really stop getting involved in these situations.

"You're a Huntress..." an awed voice said. I looked over at the girl... No, I looked over at Ruby, who was speaking to the witch-lady. A fangirl-like expression found its way to her face. "Can I have your autograph?!" I walked up next to them.

"Wait... Is she famous or something?" I asked. Because that would be good to know.

"You can't be serious! She's a Huntress!"

"Yeah... I heard you say that. What's a Huntress?"

"W-Wha-?!" Her face seemed to be stuck between shock and skepticism at my words. "W-What do you mean, 'What's a Huntress?'" She paused in thought for a moment before continuing. "And how do you know my name?!"

"W-Well... You see, um..." This wasn't going well. I opened my mouth to say something else, but was cut off.

"Do the two of you know how much trouble you are in right now?" The Huntress pushed her glasses closer to her face. The look she gave us made me nervous. "Come with me." Ruby and exchanged worried glances as we followed her from the rooftop.

* * *

I held my face in my hands. I had been taken to a building in downtown Vale along with Ruby. We said nothing to each other but occasionally caught each others eyes as we followed the Huntress into the structure and down a hallway. I had been led into a small room that just screamed 'Interrogation Room' from the looks of it, and told to wait. The door to the room closed, and I was alone. The lone light above me shone down unforgivably onto a table, only to further push the point that I was probably being arrested. Great.

I lifted my head up and leaned back into the chair, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember my rights.

"They started it!"

Hmm? I stood up and walked over to the side of the room, putting my ear to the wall. It was faint, but I could swear I heard-

"Eeek!"

-Ruby?!

"But... There is someone here who would like to meet you."

The Huntress? Though the wall muffled the voices, I could almost visualize what was happening. Professor Ozpin was here too?! I felt a bead of sweat drip down my face. I was sure he was going to have a few words to say to me.

I continued to eavesdrop as Ruby explained where she learned how to fight and how she wants to be a Huntress, among other things... When I heard Ozpin agree to let Ruby attend Beacon Academy I decided to return to my seat. I sat down and began to think. Trying to remember... well, anything really. Everything that I've experienced in the last few days seemed like I was half a step ahead of what was happening. I knew the names of people I've never met, remembered things that haven't happened yet, and nearly got myself killed over a situation that didn't seem to faze me at the time. My head started to throb as I pressed myself for more information.

"C'mon... Think dammit!" I clutched the sides of my head as I tried to force up memories, anything. There were some colors... Some silhouettes... A rabbit or something... Some sort of catapult... A princess- No... An heiress...?

The more I remembered, the less sense everything made. *Sigh* I opened my eyes, and nearly fell out of my chair in surprise.

"P-Professor Ozpin!"

"Why hello." He was sitting across from me, coffee cup in hand.

"H-How long have you been sitting there?"

"Not too long." He calmly took a sip from his mug before setting it down. "You seem to be causing quite a bit of trouble, young man."

"Hey, they started it!"

"As I've heard." The door opened and the Huntress from earlier took her place standing next to Ozpin before speaking.

"Professor Ozpin, the arrangements for Miss Rose to be added to the school's attendance roster have been forwarded to the administration office." She gestured to the screen of the device she held in her hands. "Her transcripts from Signal are being sent to us as we speak.

"Thank you, Glynda." He took the tablet from her and began looking it over. I watched him until I felt a glare from the Huntress; I then forced myself to stare at the table. It was a nice table.

"Do you mind telling me what you were doing in that dust shop at this hour?" My head snapped back up at the professor's question. He had passed the tablet back to Glynda and was now looking at me with a near emotionless face.

"W-Well... You see..."

"Go on." It was the cafe all over again. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"I thought I had remembered something."

"Really? And what might that have been?" Both of their eyes were on me.

"Well... I remembered Ruby."

Ozpin gave me a slight puzzling look, leaning in a bit closer. "You know her?"

I shook my head. "I know of her. I think. I'm not really sure. I-I saw her go into that store and thought she would know who I was."

"And did she?"

"No. I don't think we've ever even met actually."

"But you know her."

"Yes. I mean no! I mean... Argh..." I buried my face in my hands. I could hear the sipping of coffee as I did so.

"So you've remembered someone you have never met before and can't remember how or why?"

"That's the gist of it. Yeah. I can't say that it was the first time though."

"There are others?" I lifted my head back up again.

"Yeah." I looked to the side, taking a moment to think. "There was this guy in the park. His name was... Cardin. Cardin Win- something..." Another pause. "And when we first met I remembered your name and the Schnee Dust Company name." Back across the table, Ozpin had closed his eyes in thought as Glynda swiped her hand across the tablet, looking for something.

"Professor Ozpin."

"Yes, Glynda?"

The Huntress pointed to a face on the screen. "We have a Cardin Winchester on our freshmen roster this year."

I nearly stood up from my seat at this new information.

"That was him! That was the guy in the park!"

"Interesting." Ozpin scanned the tablet before resting his eyes on me. "So, you have the knowledge of different people that have nothing in common, aside from one thing. Or rather, one place." It only took a second for the puzzle to fit together.

"Beacon?"

He gave me a nod. "Beacon."

* * *

**7-27-2014**

**3:27 AM**

**Central Desert Area**

**PastHNinja: I apologize for how long it took for me to get this out, but for the last couple of weeks I have been in an area that lacks internet connection and phone service. Besides the ever-lingering writers block and not having a reliable reference to the main series for dialogue and events (Besides my own memory), finding time to actually sit down and write has also been a challenge. :/**

**Anywho~ This chapter is probably even longer than the last, but I have my reasons. Cutting this chapter into two parts just didn't feel right to me. I'd personally rather have the one long chapter as opposed to two smaller chapters, but if you would rather I make them smaller please let me know. **

**I rewrote the shop scene a few times, but I still feel weird about how I wrote it. Also, BAD PUNS~! *Confetti* Gotta love 'em! I guess that's something that Yang and Hiro probably have in common, at least a little. But we'll have to wait and see. I'll let PresentNinja add whatever he feels needs to be said when I upload this. PastNinja out!**

**PresentHNinja: I spent way too long going over this chapter... I am never making one this long ever again... Even though I probably will forget this and do it again anyways.**

**Jacklyn Frost- I am curious as to what will happen as well... (Goes to read the next 4 chapter drafts)**

**Flamewing98- Thank you so much for your support, man! It totally means a lot to me that you like it! ^^**

**Big thank you to my Beta-Reader/Grammar-Nazi for helping me resolve all errors in this chapter. You know who you are. And with that, I sleep.**

**-Stay Gold!**


	5. Chapter 5: How I Met Your Sister

**Chapter 5: How I Met Your Sister**

By the time I made it back to the cafe, it was already long past business hours. I eventually gave up on trying to wake Jack to let me in, and wound up sneaking in the window of my room via the fire escape. Thank god I left it unlocked. I closed the window behind me and dropped my bag and weapons at the foot of the bed. I didn't even bother changing into my new pajamas before flopping onto the bed, and was already sound asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The next morning came quickly enough, when the smell of freshly cooked sausage made its way to my room. Still half asleep, I stumbled downstairs to breakfast. Jack was in high spirits as always, as he prepared a meal for two (or in my case, one and a half).

"Good morning, Jack." I took my usual seat by the counter, watching Jack poke his head out through the serving window.

"Oh, so you did make it back last night. I didn't even see you come in."

"Yeah... Sorry about that." I scratched the back of my head. "Some things came up and I was out later than I had planned on."

"Really?" Jack walked out of the kitchen and sat next to me, placing a plate in front of both of us. "What kinds of things?"

"Heh... Where do I start..." Shaking my head I did my best to recount the events of the previous day, starting with the minute after I left the cafe. As we ate, I explained how I had spent the money he had given me, and even showed him the Dust canisters that were still in my jacket pocket. His face became rather serious as I told him about the robbery and being held at gunpoint, but he didn't say anything. I told him about Ruby and described the scene that had taken place on the rooftop, and the appearance of the Huntress that saved us. His expression seemed skeptical.

"A Huntress? That's quite the lucky coincidence that she came across you two." The seriousness of his voice sent a chill down my spine as he spoke. "So what happened after they escaped?"

"W-Well, she took us to speak with Professor Ozpin. He wanted to talk to me and Ruby about what happened." I shifted in my seat; the way that Jack was taking this situation was unsettling. "From what I understand, Ruby was accepted into Beacon Academy."

"Just like that, huh? How old did you say she was?"

I thought about it for a moment. "She's a bit younger than me if I had to guess... Why?"

He shook his head. "Nothing important. So what did he talk to you about then?"

"Well, I told him about the different people I've been remembering."

"People like Ruby?"

"Yeah." Jack picked up the now-empty breakfast plates and moved to the kitchen to wash them.

"And what did he say about it?" he asked, his head poking over the serving window.

"Well... apparently everyone I'm remembering has something to do with Beacon, one way or another. I'm not exactly sure why I remember them, but it's a lead, at least. So Ozpin said he was going to try and help-"

"He's taking you to the Academy, isn't he?"

The echo of running water filled the air of the cafe. Jack's eyes did not meet my own when he spoke. Shutting off the water, he removed the dish towel from his shoulder and placed it in the sink. I stared at him through the window, unable to speak.

"That's what you were going to say, isn't it?"

I hesitated a moment before nodding back to him. "Y-Yeah... He said that the key to unlocking my memories could be at Beacon, so... They're going to allow me to stay there until they come back. If I pass their Initiation, that is." I slowly stood up from my seat, trying to sound positive. "The shuttles to the Academy leave in a couple of hours, actually..."

"Hmph."

Jack shot me a glare that felt like knives before he slowly walked back into the dining hall, and it took everything I had not to wince as he stared at me.

"And how does someone who couldn't even remember his own name stand a chance in combat?" he demanded.

I was at a loss for words, I didn't expect a reaction quite like this coming from him. The way he was speaking scared me more than when I was being held hostage.

"You don't get it, do ya kid?" He kept his eyes on me as he shook his head. "Beacon is a combat school. It's one of the best, at that." He stood in front of me now. Being about a head taller than I was, he easily towered over me. "You said that girl Ruby got in, right? Do you even think you could stand up to someone like her in a fight?" The harsh, scrutinizing way he was looking at me felt like he was staring into my soul. It made me angry that I couldn't deny anything that he was saying; I knew I had no clue how to fight like Ruby. "People train a good portion of their lives to go to Beacon. You think you can stand up to them, too?" he continued.

My temper flared as I slammed my left hand on the counter next to me, splintering the wood slightly.

"SO WHAT IF I CAN'T?!"

Jack was unfazed by my sudden outburst, but I wasn't stopping. I placed a hand to my chest. "Who cares if I'm not a great fighter?! This is a chance for me to find out who I am, and I can't just pass it up because of that! It's not like I have much of a choice in this matter, right?!" I angrily swung my arm out to the side, awaiting his response.

"So," he said, raising his voice, "you're perfectly fine with risking your life to chase after the white rabbit, huh? Is that It?!" He took another step towards me, causing me to take a step back in response. "Well, let me tell you something, Colton! You're just chasin' a fairytale if you think that Beacon holds all the answers!" His fists clenched up as his voice continued to become increasingly agitated. "That rabbit hole isn't some place you want to go!"

I jerked my thumb towards my chest. "If it leads to my lost memories, then it's definitely somewhere I want to go! I can handle myself!" I yelled in response, frustrated.

Bashing his own fist onto the counter, he retorted, "Chasing your dreams to Beacon is only going to get someone like you killed!"

It was my turn to take a step forward. "Someone like me?! You don't know anything about me!"

Jack pointed a finger at me, I stood my ground trying not to flinch. "I know enough! This wonderland of yours is going to cause you nothing but trouble!"

"Well, if I have to go to 'Wonderland' to find out who I am, then so be it!"

"Going to that Academy is nothing but a waste of time! Now, you listen to me, Allison-"

Jack's stubbornly angry expression changed quickly to one of pained shock as he realized what he had just said. He took a step back from me before turning around and resigning himself to silence, leaving me staring at the back of his head. My anger still fresh in my mind, it took me a few seconds to process what his words had implied. I forced myself to relax my fists and calm down.

"Jack-"

"Just go." He sighed without looking at me.

As much as I willed it to, my body refused to move. I was rooted to the spot after everything that was said. The clock on the wall chimed, signaling the start of business for the cafe. Jack turned to look at me for a second, before walking back into the kitchen without another word.

After he had disappeared from view, I made my way upstairs to my room, slamming the door behind me. There was nothing left for me here, and it was clear that I wasn't welcome any more. I loaded my bag with all my belongings and made sure that my knife was secured to my belt before opening the window.

I stood there for a moment, letting the cool morning breeze brush against my face. Then, taking a deep breath, I hopped through the window and made my way down the fire escape to the alley below.

Slinging my bag across my back, I walked out onto the sidewalk. I turned and took one last look at the once-welcoming front entrance of The Dusty Spoon, before turning and heading towards the shuttles, leaving the cafe and its owner behind me.

* * *

Memories are not always things that want to be remembered. Many people go most of their lives trying to forget their past and the pain that it holds.

Jack Greene sat in the kitchen, holding a frame in his hands. Memories of a time better left forgotten were now flowing back unbidden through his mind; an old, throbbing pain from a past that he still remembered all too well.

He would not cry. Could not cry. Not again. No, his tears had dried up long ago.

Those who knew wished that he'd only move on. But one does not so easily forget the past, especially when it is the very past that has made you who you are.

"I'm sorry, Allison..."

He stared at the image in his hands, the familiar smiles looking back up at him. "Maybe this time..." He hung his memory back on the wall. "Maybe this time I'll be wrong..."

Jack Greene walked away from the frame, leaving the photo inside behind, but not forgotten.

* * *

I had arrived at the shuttles long before anyone else. They weren't scheduled to leave for a couple more hours, so it was unsurprising that I would be alone. The inside of the shuttle itself was spacious, with long couches and windows lining the sides, the perfect place for a nap.

"I guess I just wait, then." I sat on one of the benches for a moment before kicking my feet up and leaning my head against my bag,

"This is actually pretty comfortable…" I stuck my hands behind my head and closed my eyes to try to sleep, wanting to forget what had transpired at the cafe for at least a while.

I dozed off, only waking once or twice when the first set of passengers had started to board, before dozing off again. I did my best to ignore everyone around me as the shuttle filled with students on their way to Beacon. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about flying, so I planned on trying to sleep through the whole thing. The hum of the crowd somewhat dampened the sound of the engines enough that I could almost say that-

"HEEEEY!"

"WAHH!" I fell off the side of the bench and landed face-first on the hard floor. "Urgh..." I pushed myself up onto my knees and rubbed my head. 'That's the first headache I've gotten that didn't involve my memories at least.' I thought, grimacing.

"Sorry..." I looked up at the causer of my pain to find none other than Ruby standing there with an apologetic look on her face, poking her index fingers together.

I let out a sigh. "Don't worry, it's just my everything."

She held out a hand and helped me back to my feet. "Are you okay?"

I smiled. "That fall may have knocked a few more screws loose, but I'll be fine." My response brought a smile of relief to the girl's face. "So what's with the wake-up call?" I continued, and her expression was replaced with a look of slight embarrassment.

"I just wanted to know what your name was, actually..." 'So she really doesn't know who I am...' I let out a small sigh.

"Well, I assume it's only appropriate, after last night." I gave a somewhat dramatic-looking bow. "Hiro Colton, at your service." 'Might as well have some fun while I can here.' Ruby seemed taken aback by my gesture.

"W-Well, nice to meet you, Hiro." A slight blush found its way to her face, and I decided to keep up the act.

"Madame Rose, it is an honor to be so abruptly woken by such an outstanding hero as yourself!" I fell to one knee, as a knight would do to his king. "Your ray of courage outshines even the brightest of stars! How, pray tell, do you do it?!" Ruby's expression became a wide smile, trying her best to contain her laughter as she played along.

"Your allegiance to me will not go by unnoticed, brave warrior!" She pulled out her weapon and extended it to rifle mode. While holding it as though it was a sword, she proceeded to knight me. "I hereby knight thee as, Sir Falloffalot!" It was at this point the pair of us bursted out laughing. It took both of us a minute to calm down before we could talk again.

"Seriously? Falloffalot?" It was hard not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the name.

"I'm sorry, I thought it was appropriate!" Ruby was doing her best to quell her laughter. "So, about last night-"

"Ruby!" Another voice caused both of us to turn.

"Yang?" Apparently Ruby knew who was quickly approaching. I swiftly stepped out of the way as the newcomer immediately wrapped the young girl in a hug that, honestly, kinda looked like it hurt.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"

"Please... stop..." I could almost hear the sound of Ruby's lungs being squeezed to death.

The blonde sister released her grip on her captive and hopped backwards a couple feet. "But I'm so proud of you!"

Now that she was done unintentionally strangling Ruby, I could finally get a good look at her. She had on a set of tall brown boots that nearly reached her knees, and wore a pair of black short-shorts with a unique miniskirt-tail-thing that attached to her belt. Her cropped brown jacket exposed a bit of her midriff as well as her, *ahem* 'assets'. Around her neck she wore an orange scarf, and around her wrists she had some type of bulky yellow bracelets over her black gloves. Her long blonde hair almost seemed to burn in the light, enough that it could probably blind someone if they stared at it long enough.

Ruby took a breath of fresh air before responding, "Really sis, it was nothing."

"What do you mean? It was incredible!" She opened her mouth like she was about to say something else, but it was at this point that I was finally noticed. "Who's this guy?" I looked at Ruby as she began to gesture between us.

"Yang, this is Hiro. Hiro, this is my older sister Yang." Yang then proceeded to look me up and down before her eyes rested on mine.

She smiled. "Nice hair."

I glanced up at my red star-tuft before looking back at Yang. "Thanks. You too." I received a nod in return.

"Yeah, I know." She replied smugly. "So you know Ruby from somewhere?"

"Sort of..."

Luckily, Ruby was able to explain it for me. "We sort of met last night during the whole Dust robbery thing. He helped me fight off the bad guys and chase after Torchwick."

"I wasn't that much help." I said truthfully, placing hands behind my head in embarrassment. "I'm pretty sure you could have handled it by yourself even if I wasn't there."

"Don't be so humble, hot-shot." Yang slapped me on the back causing me to stumble a little before she gestured to- Wait... Did she just call me 'Hot-Shot'?

She continued, "Everyone at Beacon is going to think that you two are the bee's knees."

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay?" Ruby sounded nervous as she spoke, " I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"Do bee's have knees?" I questioned. (A/N: Seriously, I asked myself this here.)

Yang rolled her eyes at me before returning her attention to Ruby. "What's with you? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited, I just..." Ruby sighed. "I got moved ahead two years... I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

Yang walked up next to her sister before giving her a one-armed hug. "But you are special."

Ruby looked like she was about to say something else when our conversation was interrupted by a newscast playing nearby that immediately caught our attention.

"The robbery was led by nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities." Roman's mugshot was displayed on the screen. He looked really strange without his hat. "If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."

"Thank you, Cyril." The image of Torchwick was replaced with the face of news anchor, Lisa Lavender, as captioned along the lower part of the screen. "In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony." A picture of a several Faunus protesters appeared on the left, then was replaced by a growling red wolf's head with scratch marks behind it. "The once-peaceful organization has now disrupted-"

The news feed was cut off and replaced with a hologram of the Huntress from the previous night.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon."

"Who's that?" Yang looked between me and Ruby to see if we knew. I would have answered, but-

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch." It was almost as if she could hear Yang's question. It was creepy.

"Oh." Yang replied.

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy!" My stomach started tying itself into a knot as I listened to the welcome speech. "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world."

The image faded, leaving me standing there thinking about what I was doing there. Jack's words finally started to hit me after hearing the announcement, and I started to feel dizzy. How would I ever last at Beacon? I didn't do anything to earn my place at this academy, I was just an amnesiac that got lucky during a robbery! I didn't pass any sort of tests or go to some other combat school, hell, I could barely wield a weapon! I ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to keep myself from feeling nauseous.

"*Gasp* Wow..." I looked over to see Ruby run up to one of the windows in amazement. Shaking the doubt from my mind, I made my way over to where she stood and looked through the glass. I exhaled deeply as I took in the breathtaking view. We passed right over Vale's rooftops, and I had to admit, it was pretty sweet.

"I love flying." I said to no one in particular.

"Look, you can see Signal from up here." I followed Ruby's gaze and smiled in awe. Signal looked more like a castle than a school. I could see students making their way around campus and training in the field with their different weapons. "I guess home isn't too far after all..." Ruby muttered.

Yang placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Beacon's our home now." I nodded at her and returned my gaze to the outside.

"Home... Right..." I guess I'd better get used to calling it that. I don't even remember my real home anyways...

"Uhhhrghhhhh-" The three of us looked towards the sound of what I could only describe as 'illness' to find a fellow passenger who looked a little too green in the face to be healthy. He hunched over as he began running to the back of the ship, making unpleasant sounds as he went.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Well... I guess the view isn't for everyone."

I shook my head, letting a grin work its way onto my face. "He probably just needs a minute."

"It was a nice moment while it lasted!" Ruby added in, we all started laughing a little. "I wonder who we're gonna meet?"

"I just hope they're better than 'Vomit Boy.'" Yang replied.

Ruby continued chuckling as she looked downwards. "Oh, Yang! Gross! You have puke on your shoe!"

Yang immediately tensed up, her face giving off an almost horrified expression. I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross-"

"Get-Get away! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me! GET AWAY FROM ME!" My laughter filled the shuttle as I watched Ruby get chased around by her older sister. "Hiro! T-This isn't funny!"

"No, it kind of is!" I wiped a tear from my left eye as I tried to control myself. I closed my eyes and stood up straight as I took a few breaths to calm down. When I opened them, Ruby was right in front of me. She grabbed my shoulders and shoved me in front of her just in time for Yang to collide head-on with me, crashing the three of us to the ground. We all let out a simultaneous groan of pain.

"Yang... Can you please get off of us...?" Ruby struggled to speak from the bottom of the pile, Yang was rubbing her head which had collided with mine, and I watched the stars spin around my head as I tried not to think about the situation I was in... At least it wasn't a hard landing...

"Sorry about that..." Yang said as she removed herself from atop the pile. She looked at us as she stood before grinning. "Well, don't you two look comfortable~!" I rubbed the stars from my eyes and looked around before freezing up. The red hue that engulfed my face matched that of Ruby's cape. Due to the impact I had landed right on top of the embarrassed scythe-wielder with our faces inches apart. The two of us practically rocketed to our feet.

"I'M SORRY!"

"I'M SORRY!"

Yang just laughed at us. "Wow, Ruby, it looks like Hiro really FELL for you!"

Needless to say, Ruby and I couldn't talk to each other for a while. We did, however, chase after a certain blonde sister who was spitting out more puns. "I guess you can say he was quite the CATCH!" she laughed as she flitted away.

* * *

**Man is it great to be home! I think I might have gone a bit crazy being out there for so long... At least I found somewhere that had wifi, even though it's about a 20-30 minute walk away.**

**Anyways, as for this chapter I started to try and "flesh- out" the story a bit as well as Hiro's personality. Since he's getting his memories back he should be acting more like himself. Or something. I don't know. Also, MOAR BAD PUNS~! *Confetti* Yang and Hiro aren't too different when it comes to humor it seems.**

**And what's going on with Jack, eh? I felt like I didn't really make much of a character out of him so I tried to give him a bit more back-story. You'll eventually find out what happened, but it's pretty obvious that he doesn't like the academy. And as for the name Allison...**

**...**

**...I didn't intend to rip it from RvB, it just sort of happened in the heat of the moment. When I realized what name I had used I already liked it to much to change so... *Tableflip* DEAL WITH IT *SunglassesOnFace***

**Flamewing98- Hiro has a combat style? *Looks over shoulder at Hiro who just shrugs in response* Well then... Anyways, yeah, I'm doing the best I can to add detail to the characters without making it overly descriptive. I'm glad that you like it. ^^**

**BruceNadeauJr- I really enjoy the way it made his character turn out, but I often find myself doubling back to old chapters trying to remember what he had already remembered from the memories he had originally forgotten that he once remembered. Or something.**

**Jacklyn Frost- Thank you! I'm really glad people like this story so much, I have a lot planned for it. :)**

**SakuraNights01- I decided to make Hiro's story a little more isolated from the main series because, even though this is a RWBY fic, it's not the RWBY story. Team RWBY already has its story told in the series, and I want to focus on giving Hiro his own destiny, so to speak. (Hiro:) "And I still have nightmares about working at the cafe." *Shudders***

**See you guys in the next chapter!**

* * *

In Loving Memory of The Genie

"You ain't never had a friend like me."


	6. Chapter 6: Welcome to Beacon

**Chapter 6: Welcome to Beacon**

It didn't take long for the shuttle to arrive at the academy, and we slowly felt the craft shift as it began its descent. Once Ruby and I had regained our composure from Yang's comments, she began to tell me all about her old school, Signal Academy, and how she had designed her own weapon, Crescent Rose.

"Wait, you designed that?!" I was amazed at how expertly crafted it was, and the fact that someone her size could actually fight with such an oversized piece of equipment.

"Yeah!" She cradled the collapsed weapon in her hands. "I put a lot of work into making it, with the help of my uncle Qrow, of course."

Feeling comfortable, I leaned back in my seat and kicked my feet out slightly. "Your uncle sounds like a cool guy."

"He's awesome!" She squeaked in response. "So, where did you go to school?"

I stiffened up; Ruby's question caught me off guard. I forced myself not to panic as I tried to come up with an answer. I mean, I couldn't just let it slip that I was going to the most prestigious combat school in Vale without any previous training.

"W-Well, y-you see..." _LIE. THROUGH. YOUR TEETH. HIRO._ "I was home schooled!"

She looked at me quizzically. "Really? So you're from around here?"

"Yes. I-I mean no! I mean-" _Calm down, Hiro. Just make a believable story._ "I-I'm not FROM here, but I moved to Vale and was taught by a friend of my dad's. He runs a cafe downtown." It took all of my willpower to give a straight face to her as I told my lie.

Ruby tilted her head, wrapping her mind around my story. "A cafe owner home schooled you?"

I nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. I helped him run the shop from time to time as well. He was a great guy." Ruby looked at me skeptically for a moment. _Shit the jig is up-_

"That's pretty neat!" _WHAT._

"W-Wait, what? Really?" I was shocked. _'I can't believe that worked...'_

"Yeah, it's different in a kind of interesting way." 'Thank you, brain. You really pulled through for me there.' (HNinja: Actually you can thank **me** for that one.)

Before anything else could be said, a loud tone rang throughout the ship before an announcement was heard over the speakers.

"Attention passengers, we will be docking at Beacon momentarily. Please stand back from the boarding ramps until they are completely extended. Thank you."

I stood up along with most of the passengers, stretching my arms slightly.

"Looks like were here." I grabbed my bag and slung it across my back like before, when I caught another strange look from Ruby. "What?"

She gestured to my belongings. "Why didn't you put your bag with the rest of your stuff?"

"The rest of my... Huh?" I looked around and realized that I was the only one on the airship with any sort of luggage. Everyone must have put all their stuff somewhere else before the flight, but since I only had the items I had purchased from yesterday, my bag looked like some type of carry-on. "Umm... No real reason."

Ruby looked like she was about to say something else when her sister ran up to us. "Come on, guys, were here!"

She proceeded to grab onto both of our arms, and practically dragged us to the ramps, Ruby yelling at her all the while. "Yang, let go! Hiro and I are perfectly capable of walking!"

Yang yanked us along after her, careening past several students before reaching the loading dock, where we were released.

Once free, Ruby and I began rubbing our sore shoulders. "Your sister is strong, Ruby..." I groaned.

"Yeah... I know... Just be glad she doesn't hug you." The thought of my ribs cracking to pieces from a Yang-hug made me shudder.

Once we had recovered, the two of us followed along after Yang, who was busy making her way towards the front of the school. Ruby skipped along next to her sister while I tagged along behind. That is, until something caught my eye, causing me to pause mid-step.

"Hey, you guys go on ahead. There's something I want to check out."

The two girls turned around and Yang held her hands behind her head. "Okie dokie. Catch up with us later then, Hot-Shot." I felt blood rush to my cheeks after Yang's comment.

As they continued on towards the school, I quietly walked towards the side of the walkways. I had noticed someone sitting in the grass on the other side of the walkway railing. Someone with mouse ears.

Leaning close, I whispered, "Boo." The reaction was immediate.

"WAAHH!" The mouse girl jumped up to face me but tripped over her own feet, falling back into the grass. "Ow..."

"Whoa, I'm sorry." Worried, I swiftly vaulted over the railing and lent a hand to help her up. "You okay?" She brushed her short auburn hair out of the way and adjusted her glasses to look at me, then blinked in shock.

"Y-You're that boy from the other day!"

I grinned reassuringly."The one and only." I replied. She hesitantly took my hand and I helped her up to her feet. "What's you're name?" Her mouse ears flattened against her head; clearly, she was nervous about talking to me.

"M-My name is Ema. E-Ema Terrawood." She clutched the rather large book she'd been reading tightly against her chest, creasing the white dress shirt she was wearing.

"Nice to meet you, Ema. My name's Hiro Colton."

"H-Hello." She shifted around nervously.

A few moments of silence passed before I decided to try my best to make conversation. "So, are you a new student here, too?" She looked at me before shaking her head in response. Confused, I tilted my head to the side. "Really? Then why are you here?"

She cast her eyes downward before quietly speaking. "I-I'm here researching information about H-Huntsmen and Huntresses... F-For my class..." Her whole body was trembling as she spoke.

I put my hand on her shoulder, causing her to tense up. "Hey, there's nothing to be nervous about. Trust me, I don't bite."

Her emerald eyes caught mine for a second as she began to relax a little. "I'm sorry..."

I smiled. "Don't worry about it." Releasing her shoulder, I put my hands behind my head before continuing. "So you're doing research, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm taking private classes at Signal Academy and wanted to learn more about what a real Hunter or Huntress does. You know, scientifically." She adjusted the glasses on her face as she spoke. "My instructor is an associate of one of the professors here, so I was allowed access to the school grounds and library."

"You're going to Signal, right?" She simply nodded. "You wouldn't happen to know a Ruby Rose by any chance, would you?"

Ema looked off to one side before responding."I don't know her personally, but I've seen her around the campus. She's one of the top students in our year, from what I've heard."

I stuffed my hands into my pockets. "I don't doubt it, she's going to Beacon this year as well."

Her face lit up as she looked back at me. "Really? She's so lucky!" I saw a smile spread across her face- possibly even a twinkle in her eyes- as she gripped her book tighter. "All of the knowledge this school has to offer... I can only dream of coming to a place like this!" She closed her eyes dreamily as the idea of herself being a student at this academy seemed to dance through her mind. I couldn't help but laugh a little at her cheerful musings.

After a minute or so, she snapped out of her trance, her face resembling that of a ripe cherry. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to trail off like that!"

I just chuckled. "No worries. I hope you achieve your dream of getting here one day." I gave her a thumbs-up.

She hesitated before shyly returning the gesture with a small smile. "Thanks..."

**_*KABOOM*_**

The sudden explosion caught both of us off guard as we looked towards the source of the sound.

I let out a sigh, almost positive of who had caused it. "Well I guess that's my cue to leave." I hopped up onto the railing and looked back at the mouse girl. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Ema. Don't be a stranger okay?"

She looked at me and nodded. "Okay. Thank you again, uh, Hero."

I smiled and shook my head. "It's Hiro, but thanks for the compliment." Giving a two-fingered salute, I dropped down onto the ground and hurriedly made my way over to the blast site, which was further than I had anticipated.

As I got closer I was able to see Ruby standing in the middle of a small crater, though there wasn't as much damage as I had initially thought, with only a few cracks here and there. Ruby gloomily sank to her knees as I approached, before completely lying on her back. Not seeing Yang, I could only speculate that things were not going so well for the hooded girl. Luckily, another student stopped and helped her to her feet.

I walked over to them in the middle of Ruby speaking. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" I could see the embarrassment creep onto the blonde's face as she said that.

I just rubbed my eyes. "I can't leave you and your sister alone for two minutes, can I Rose?"

The girl placed her hand on her hips. "You two are the ones that ditched me, you know!"

I crossed my arms in response. "I came back though, didn't I?" I shook my head before I continued. "Look, we can talk about what happened on the way to the school, we don't want to be late." I gestured for them to follow me. "You too, Vomit Boy!"

"H-Hey, not funny!" The two of them ran up next to me as we began our walk through the campus.

* * *

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on."

"Look I'm sorry, Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind." The three of us walked along through the academy grounds. While looking for the auditorium, Ruby and our new companion had gotten into a bit of a conversation over what happened upon arriving to Beacon. The boy had light blonde hair and was about my height- if you don't count my red hair spike- and wore some lightweight armor over casual-looking attire consisting of a black, sleeveless hoodie and jeans. He wore two brown leather belts- similar to my two black ones- and carried a long, sheathed sword on his left side.

"Oh yeah, what if I called you Crater-Face?" The boy replied.

Ruby waved her hands in rebuttal. "Hey, that explosion was an accident!" It was all I could do to keep from laughing at their little 'back-and-forth'.

The boy pointed a thumb to his chest before continuing. "Well the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!"

I looked at him, skeptically. "Really now...?"

Seemingly flustered, Jaune raised his hands in front of him, reassuring me "Hey, they will! Well I-I hope they will. I think my mom always says tha- N-Never mind..." Jaune continued walking, albeit slower after the discouraging first conversation. Ruby and I looked at each other, unsure of what to say next.

Finally, Ruby spoke up. "Sooooo, I got this thing." She pulled out her scythe, extending it completely before slamming it into the ground, mere inches from my feet. Seeing the shock on my face from nearly losing a few toes, she apologized sheepishly. "Ehehe, Sorry..."

Jaune, also taken off guard, jumped back a bit. "Whoa! I-is that a scythe?"

"It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle." Ruby proudly proclaimed as she held up the heavy weapon seemingly with ease.

Sadly, Jaune didn't appear to understand a word of it. "...A wha...?"

I sighed and did my best to translate for him. "A gun, Jaune. It's also a really big gun."

Clarity dawned on him. "Oh, that's cool!"

Ruby nodded before speaking. "So what've you got?"

The enthusiasm on Jaune's face faded quickly at the question. "Oh..." He reached down and unsheathed his weapon, a metallic thrum resulting from the motion. "Uh, I got this sword," he said sheepishly.

"Oooooh!" Ruby lit up, happy to see another weapon close up. I actually thought it was pretty cool, myself. Hell, it was better than my dinky little knife.

"Yeah, I've got a shield, too." He held up the sword's scabbard, extending it into a white shield bearing a crescent moon across the front.

"Nice emblem." I commented.

"So, what do they do?" Ruby reached out to touch the shield, but it immediately proceeded to extend and retract repeatedly. It jumped out of Jaune's hand, bouncing uncontrollably around me and the 'knight', hitting our heads in the process.

"Whoa!" "Yikes!" "Watch it!" "Yah!" "Grab it!" Jaune and I stumbled around trying to catch the shield. With much difficulty, I was able to grab hold of it long enough for Jaune to slide his hand in and grasp it again. I released it and began to rub the new bruise on my head as he continued his explanation.

"T-The shield gets smaller... So, when I get tired of carrying it... I can just... put it away..."

"But," Ruby questioned, "wouldn't it weigh the same?"

"Yeah, it does..." Jaune replied dejectedly.

Trying to cheer him up, I added, "At least it's easier to carry like that. So you don't have to hold it constantly, you know?" Jaune looked to me with a trace of a smile.

"Well, heheh. I-I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, I guess I did go a little overboard in designing it," Ruby said, caressing her scythe fondly.

Jaune's eyes widened with amazement. "Wait... You made that?" I smiled, knowing exactly how he felt from when Ruby first told me about it as well.

"Of course!" Ruby exclaimed. "All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?" The boy looked at the weapon in his hands unenthusiastically.

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me." Ruby smiled. "Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days," she nodded.

"Yeah... The classics." He repeated thoughtfully, before looking over at me. "What about you?"

I was taken by surprise. "Huh? Me?" I hesitated a moment, then reached behind me and unsheathed my own blade. " I have this Dust-Blade." Compared to the size and flashy designs of the other weapons, my little knife looked like a joke.

Jaune examined it closely. "Nifty." The two of them inspected the blade. Ruby was the first one to say anything.

"What's that design on the side?"

"The green one on the blade?" I tilted it towards me to get another good look at the shield-and-sword engraving. "I-It's nothing really. It sort of just came with it," I sighed. "I got it at a second-hand store, no real story there."

"Well, did you give it a name?" Ruby inquired.

"Huh?"

Her eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms irritably, clearly frustrated at me. "A name! Your weapon is an extension of who you are! You have to name it!" I stared blankly at my weapon for a moment.

"Hmm... I never really thought about it." I looked back up at her, sheathing the knife. "I'll think of a name. Don't worry."

She smiled approvingly, then glanced upwards in thought and opened her mouth to speak again. "Didn't you have another weapon, too?"

I pointed a thumb over my shoulder at my bag. "What, that gun? It's just something I picked up during that robbery. I'm not even sure how it works, to be honest."

"Well, make sure you name that one, too!" she added quickly.

_*Sigh*_ "Alright..." I agreed, mainly because I was sure she wouldn't let it slide. I shook my head as we continued walking.

Ruby turned her attention back to Jaune. "So why'd you help me back there, in the courtyard?"

"Eh, why not. My mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'" It seemed like a good enough reason to me. 'At least he has morals. Wait a second...'

I stopped. "Hey guys... Where are we going?" The three of us exchanged glances.

"I don't know. I was following Ruby."Jaune and I looked at Ruby.

"W-Well, I was following Hiro." They looked at me, I just pointed to Jaune causing a group sigh. Luckily Jaune was there to break the silence.

"You think there might be a directory...? Maybe a food court? Some sort of recognizable landmark?" Ruby let out a giggle. "Is that a 'no'"?

"That's a no."

* * *

**Another chapter complete! Thank you SakuraNights01 for helping proofread this chapter, it helped out a lot! The next few chapters may take a bit longer to get out due to time constraints, but since this weekend is a holiday I will have at least a day to work on them without problems.**

**Flamewing98: Hiro isn't very skilled in combat, so it is safe to say he would rather fight in a group than by himself. However, he is not above fighting solo for his own reasons, like with Cardin in the park. Also, WOOO! VOLUME 2! :D**

**Jacklyn Frost: I felt like I needed to put that at the bottom. It felt right. (Also, no... You don't have to say it. :P)**

**This chapter had a lot of canon moments in it as well as a couple of non-canon ones. The next chapter is planned to be a bit of half-and-half in this aspect. Hopefully it will answer some of your questions and raise even more. Stay Gold Internet! HiroNinja out!**


	7. Chapter 7: Welcome to Beacon II

**Chapter 7: Welcome to Beacon II**

After wandering around the academy grounds for what seemed like an eternity, the three of us managed to find the auditorium with only minutes to spare.

"Wooo... We made it." I was relieved that we weren't late for the welcome brief.

"That wasn't so hard." I looked over at Jaune who tried to play it off like he wasn't worried about being late for the last twenty minutes or so.

"Look who's talking." I retorted, jerking my thumb towards Ruby. "We'd still be wandering around the courtyard if Ruby didn't ask for directions."

Ruby just giggled. "You're both welcome by the way." I rolled my eyes as we walked through the double doors of the auditorium. The glass ceiling almost made it feel like we were still outside and the entire room was filled with students.

"Ruby! Hiro!" a familiar voice rang out from the direction of the center of the room. We quickly spotted Yang, who was waving at us from the center of the room. "Over here! I saved you two spots!"

"Oh!" Ruby turned to Jaune,"Hey, we gotta go! See you after the ceremony!" and ran off to meet up with her sister, leaving Jaune to reach a hand out to her as she left.

"H-Hey! Wait!"

"See you later, Arc!" I gave the boy a small wave as I chased after her, not wanting to be left behind. Catching up, I noticed that Ruby had crossed her arms. Paying no mind, I turned my attention to Yang. "Hey, Yang. Fancy seeing you here."

"Oh you know, I get around." Yang just smiled at us. "So, how's your guys's first day going?"

"Well, I'm not doing so bad," I gestured to her sister, "but I think your sister may have exploded a bit ago." Yang shifted her gaze to Ruby, slightly concerned.

"Yikes, meltdown already?"

"No," Ruby waved her hand at her older sister, "I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I-I think some ice...?"

Yang leaned closer to her with a smile on her face, clearly thinking that she was joking with her. "Are you being sarcastic?" Ruby scoffed at her as I rolled my eyes, noticing another student walking up behind her out of the corner of my eye.

The girl's expression was about as cold as her outfit looked, which was completely white aside from the red lining of her jacket. Her snow-white hair was done up in an asymmetrical ponytail that hung off to her right side, and she was carrying what appeared to be a rapier of some kind.

Her appearance seemed to ring a few bells in my mind, but I was unable to recall why before I realized that Ruby had begun talking again, speaking quickly in her distress. "I wish! I tripped over some crabby girls luggage..."

The white-haired girl was now standing right behind Ruby, and something told me that it wasn't because she wanted to be friends. _'I should probably warn her...'_ "Ruby..."

"...and then she yelled at me! And then I sneezed, and then I exploded," Ruby went on, too absorbed in her recount.

"Ruby."

"...and then she yelled at me again and I felt really, REALLY bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!"

The girl hovered next to Ruby's ear and shouted, "YOU!" startling all of us. Ruby shrieked and jumped into her sister's arms "Oh, god! It's happening again!"

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"

Yang looked at her sister with a simultaneously awed and horrified look on her face. "Oh my god, you really exploded."

Ruby got back on her feet, pleading to her sister and the white-haired girl, "It was an accident. It was an accident!" only to have a pamphlet shoved in her face entitled "Dust For Dummies". "What's this?"

I watched as the "ice queen" took a deep breath before reciting what I can only imagine was a disclaimer of some kind.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. AlthoughnotmandatorytheSchneefamilyhighlyencouragesourcustomerstoreadandfamiliarizethemselveswitthiseasytofollowguidetoDustapplicationsandpracticesinthefield."

..._Was it me, or did the last half of that seem to go by, recited more quickly than even I could understand?_ I exchanged glances with Ruby, who seems to have had the same reaction.

"Um..."

The girl glared at Ruby before continuing. "Do you really want to start making things up to me?"

"Absolutely?" she squeaked.

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again," the girl responded, shoving the pamphlet into Ruby's hands before stepping back.

I wasn't sure what it was, but there was something oddly familiar about her... I scratched my chin thoughtfully, curious as to what it was.

"Weiss Schnee, right? Have we... met before?" I asked.

She crossed her arms, looking me up and down. "I don't know. I meet a lot of people I don't care about," she huffed haughtily.

I averted my gaze, slightly dispirited. "Oh... sorry." I rubbed my temples, trying to dispel the headache that only seemed to worsen the longer I was at Beacon.

At this point, Yang stepped forward next to Ruby, scratching the back of her head. "Look, uh, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot." She brought her hand back down, resting it on her hip. "Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

I was skeptical that it would be that easy of a feat to accomplish. Ruby, on the other hand, seemed to light up at the idea. She passed me the pamphlet and turned around to face her new 'friend'.

"Yeah! Great idea, sis!" She cleared her throat and held out her hand. "Hello, Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!"

"Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like... tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!" Weiss responded with sarcastic enthusiasm, pointing over her shoulder at Jaune.

"Wow, really?!" Ruby smiled, excited.

Weiss stared hard at her for a moment, then blinked and said flatly, "No."

Suddenly, the sound of a microphone being turned on caught everyone's attention. Turning towards the stage, I recognized the figure of Professor Ozpin standing behind a microphone stand. He cleared his throat, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose before speaking.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft, and acquire new skills, and when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." Ruby started to look between us with an enthusiastic smile on her face. I couldn't meet her gaze, knowing full well the differences in our attendance here. Instead I fixed my attention on the stage, following along with the headmaster's speech.

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far." It might have been my imagination, but his eyes seemed to glance at me for a split second before returning to their original position.

"It is up to you to take the first step."A large portion of the audience seemed taken off guard by what he had said, but I paid them no mind as I turned over the meaning behind his words. I looked at the three girls around me, all of them seeming a bit uneasy from the speech. Ozpin began his walk off the stage as Professor Goodwitch took his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready, you are dismissed." I felt myself tense up a bit at the mention of the initiation. I was still unconfident in my ability to make it at this academy. I tried to shake the doubt from my mind, but I knew it would always be there.

I brought my attention back to the group, where Yang was the first to say anything.

"He seemed kind of… off."

Ruby nodded her head in response, looking over to where he had left the ballroom before responding.

"Almost like he wasn't even there."

I crossed my arms and was about to try to explain what Ozpin was trying to say, but I was cut off by Jaune, who had walked over to us with a somewhat cocky smile on his face.

He leaned up close to Weiss, pointing at his chest. "I'm a natural blonde, ya know?"

I let out a sigh. "Jaune… I don't think-"

"Mr. Colton."

I spun around to see Glynda Goodwitch, she had left the stage and was now standing before me. '_How did she get down here so fast?!'_

"If you would please follow me, we have a few matters to discuss about your… enrollment."

I felt a little uneasy at the mention of my enrollment at Beacon. I wasn't exactly a typical student here, so I doubted that this meeting was going to be routine. I looked back at Yang and Ruby, they seemed a bit curious as to why my attendance was different from others.

I gave them a reassuring smile and waved. "I'll meet up with you guys later. Try not to blow up the school while I'm gone." I teased.

Ruby glared at me and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by her sister who had wrapped her arm around her head with a playful smile.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure this loose cannon plays nicely!"

Ruby struggled, unsuccessful in her attempts to free herself from her sisters grasp. I shook my head with a smile before turning back around and following after Goodwitch.

**=||-{([O])}-||=**

I followed the professor through the empty halls of the school without much conversation. After a few minutes we arrived at the school's medical ward, which was written above a set of double doors on a plaque.

A young man behind the main counter look up from his desk as I entered the waiting room. He had a calm smile on his face as he stood up to address me.

"Mr. Colton I presume, we've been expecting you."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "Have you now?" I wasn't sure how to take being the talk of the school staff with it only being the first day.

The nurse gave me a nod in return as he began collecting pages onto a nearby clipboard. "I trust that your first few hours here at Beacon have been eventful?"

"Eventful is… one way of putting it I guess." Even though I had no recollection of previous schooling, this school definitely didn't feel normal, that's for sure. "Soooo… what exactly am I doing here?"

Pushing her glasses closer to her face, professor Goodwitch began to explain. "Well due to the... dilemma concerning your background, or rather the lack thereof," I noticed a hint of irritation in her voice as she spoke. "we have no choice but to create fresh documents for your enrollment records here at Beacon Academy. Luckily, our medical department is provided with everything we need for full physical examinations and aura analysis." The Huntress gestured her hand towards a nearby door. "Dr. Night is waiting for you in the examination room. It's best not to keep her waiting."

Her piercing gaze hurried me into the exam room, and I quickly closed the door behind me.

"Why, hello! You must be Hiro."

I looked over to the side of the room and saw a woman with long, purple hair in what appeared to be a white labcoat. She had a smile on her face as she stood up from the desk at the wall to greet me.

I reached out and shook her hand. "Good evening. You're Dr. Night then?"

She nodded. "Yep! Dr. Night, best medical professional in all of Remnant, at your service." She waved her arms to the side with a slight bow.

I smiled back at her. "Well I should be in good hands then." Dr. Night's demeanor was almost in direct contrast with Professor Goodwitch's. It was somewhat relieving.

She stood up straight and nodded. "That's right!" She gestured to a nearby chair. "Go ahead and take a seat. We'll get started right away."

**=||-{([O])}-||=**

I followed Dr. Night's instructions as she proceeded to perform a variety of medical examinations. My sight, hearing, and dental profiles were examined and documented among other general things. I found myself a little uneasy when it came to drawing blood for my DNA test, I held my arm out to the side and refused to look at the needle. It didn't hurt at all, but the idea of forcibly removing blood from my body bothered me. After what seemed like hours I was finally brought into another room for my final test.

"We're just about done here Mr. Colton, all that's left is the full body scan." Doctor Night winked at me and smiled. "Gotta make sure nothing's broken right?"

I chuckled slightly. "Y-yeah, that would be good to know." Following the doctor, I was led into a room where I was instructed to change out of my normal clothes and into a medical gown. Leaving me alone to change, I put on the bland grey and light blue colored garb. I left my clothes folded on top of my bag along with my knife and walked back out to receive the test.

The scanner was more or less a giant cylinder on its side that filled a good portion of the room. Laying down on the table by the opening, I watched as Dr. Night input a few things onto the nearby terminal before moving to the adjacent room that was separated by a window.

Once the table started to move I laid my head down and waited as the machine slowly pulled it back to begin the test.

"Please remain still as the scanner does its job and we'll be all done!" I could hear her voice over a set of nearby speakers as the machine began to spin slowly around me. After about a minute the spinning stopped and the table began to remove itself from the cylinder.

Once out, I sat up and looked over to the window and smiled at the doc. "That wasn't so bad." I called over to her. I felt my smile fade as I saw the serious look on her face, it made me worry. '_Was there something broken after all? I don't feel any pain.'_

Before I could ask I watched as she picked up a nearby phone and begin speaking to whoever was on the other end of the line. I couldn't hear anything as she spoke, occasionally taking a glance or two in my direction. I began to tense up, something was definitely wrong.

Dr. Night hung up the phone and activated the intercom to speak to me. "Mr. Colton, please return to the dressing room, change, and wait there. The headmaster wishes to speak with you."

The mention of Ozpin made me even more nervous, '_Why would he want to talk to me?' _I wondered. I gave a nod to the doctor and returned to change as she had requested. I didn't have to wait long after I had dressed, as Professor Ozpin seemed to arrive rather quickly holding a manilla folder and his coffee mug in hand.

He set the former down on the table beside us and pulled up a chair to face me. Sitting down, he took a sip from the mug and began to look over the contents of the folder saying nothing. We sat in silence for a while, neither of us saying anything. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional sip of coffee from his mug.

Finally I could stand it no longer. "Is there… something wrong professor?" I asked nervously, somewhat afraid of the answer.

He looked up from behind the folder to look at me. "Well it would depend on your outlook on what 'wrong' is," he replied. He closed the folder and held it out towards me. I stared at it hesitantly before slowly taking it from him. I opened it up and began to scan through the stack of papers with all of the different test results on them, finding nothing out of the ordinary after a few pages. Unmoving, Ozpin just watched me as I perused the folder.

After a few minutes I reached the last set of results from the full body scan and froze. I stared at the image of my body on the page and began to tremble nervously.

"So you didn't know." I shifted my eyes to the man in front of me as he spoke, he took another sip of his coffee, wearing an emotionless expression. My gaze darted between the pages in front of me and the professor, searching for answers to the questions multiplying inside my head yet again. The image detailed the various parts of my anatomy from head to toe, but my attention was drawn to what appeared along the left side of my body. Something that wasn't normal by any means.

"...P-Professor… w-what am I looking at?" I managed to ask.

The headmaster brought his mug down and looked at me with a calm expression. "Well according to your test results, we have discovered an… anomaly. Apparently a majority of your left side is comprised of an unknown substance." I did my best to keep my breathing under control as I listened to the explanation. "From what we can tell, it seems that a mixture of biological and mechanical components have replaced several portions of your body, including your left arm, left leg," He paused and leaned closer to me. "and your heart."

"...W-What..." My breath caught in my throat as I slowly placed a hand to my chest in a panic, searching for where my heart was.

I couldn't find a heartbeat. Nothing. I racked my brain, trying to convince myself that I did, indeed, have a heart. But I realized that since I woke up on that rooftop, I never did notice the absence of a pounding in my chest. From the very beginning, it was missing, and I didn't even notice. Something so important to my own life had disappeared from my body… and my memory. My breath had begun to quicken its pace and I began to feel a strong sense of fear creep over me.

"Hiro, calm down." Ozpin's voice reached my ears and I stared up at him. I had been clutching the papers in front of my so tight that they were starting to tear slightly in my hand.

I relaxed my grip slightly but was far from being calm. "Calm down?" I stood up, shaking. "H-How do you expect me to calm down?!" Ozpin didn't flinch at my raised voice, simply choosing to watch as my anger started to rise. "You've just told me that I don't even have a heart anymore, and you expect me to calm down?!" I slammed my left fist down onto the table, splintering it and causing a small chunk to fall off completely.

I opened my hand and stared at down at it with dismay, finally understanding where my strength was coming from. It wasn't me, it was whatever was under the skin on my arm, which I was sure wasn't even skin. My confusion only fed my anger, which in turn, only made me shake more as I dropped the folder and gripped my head in despair.

"Gah! What is wrong with me?!" I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. I wanted to go home.

Home. Did I have a home? Did I have a family? Why am I here? What was happening to me?

I was at the brink of insanity, there were too many unanswered questions that seemed to just keep coming. My breathing was sporadic now and I was shuddering uncontrollably. '_What am I going to do?' _

"Hiro." I felt Ozpin's hand grip my shoulder. "Relax. There is nothing wrong with you."

I couldn't bring myself to look up. "N-Nothing…. w-wrong…?" My voice was weak, I could barely speak.

"That is correct. There is nothing wrong with who you are." His voice was calm as he tried to ease the pain he could see I was in.

Still shivering, I slowly brought my head up just enough to look at the man across from me. He had set his mug down and had his full attention on me.

"So your body has a few distinct parts unique to it in comparison to the average person. That doesn't make you any less human than anyone else here." I listened to his words silently as my breathing slowly evened out. "Consider the changes to your body not as a hinderance or defect, but as an asset that you can use to your benefit."

I released my head and glanced down at my left arm, taking hold of it gently with my right hand. What the professor had said calmed me down, but I was still uneasy about this new information.

"I will make sure that the documents pertaining to your medical variation are kept confidential to all who do not need to know." He released my shoulder and grabbed his coffee mug, standing up to leave. "I apologise for having to cut this meeting short, but there are other matters I must attend to and you need your rest." Ozpin walked over to the door before turning to me one last time. "If there is anything you wish to talk to me about, please do not hesitate to ask."

I watched as the grey haired man walked out of the room. Leaving me alone with my thoughts and a broken table.

**=||-{([O])}-||=**

"It's like a big slumber party!"

Ruby rolled her eyes at her sister who had flopped down next to her. They had set up in sleeping bags in the school ballroom along with the rest of the first year students and had decided to sleep next to each other.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys though." She said, not looking at the blonde.

Yang smiled deviously. "I know I do." She looked up across the way where all of the boys were set up to sleep. She purred flirtatiously, watching several muscular, shirtless guys as they flexed towards them. They certainly held her attention. That is, until Jaune walked by wearing blue feetie-pajamas. He stopped as he caught her staring in his direction and smiled at her.

Yang groaned and returned her attention to her sister who was busy writing away beside her. "What's that?" She asked.

Ruby looked up with a smile. "A letter to the gang back at signal. I promised to tell them all about beacon and how things are going."

Yang grinned widely. "Aw, that's so cuuuuute!" She teased, only to be knocked back by a pillow that was thrown at her face.

Ruby looked at her sister, unamused by her comment. "Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here." She retorted, looking away.

Yang removed the pillow from her face and looked at her. "What about Jaune? He's… nice." She struggled to force out a complement for him. "There you go! Plus one friend! That's a hundred percent increase!"

Ruby sighed and flopped over onto her back. "I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero."

Yang lay in thought for a moment before trying to cheer her sister up again. "Well, what about Hiro? He seems pretty friendly!"

Ruby didn't say anything. Hiro was nice, but they hadn't seen him for hours and she was getting worried that something was wrong. She let out another sigh. "I hope he's not in trouble or anything."

Yang opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she noticed someone walk into the ballroom. She smiled and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure he's doing just fine." She said. Ruby looked over at Yang and followed her gaze.

"Oh! Hiro!" Ruby sat up and began to wave at the red haired boy. "Over here!" He hung his head down, preventing her from seeing his face.

Hiro didn't seem to hear her as he walked over to the back of the room. As he passed by, Yang caught a glimpse of his face, causing her smile to fade instantly. They watched as he sat down against the far wall near the balcony on the boys side.

"Do you think something happened?" Ruby asked joylessly.

Yang looked at her younger sister with comforting eyes. "I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he just had a long day and is tired, you know?" The young girl didn't take her eyes off of the boy for a few seconds before laying back down.

"Yeah… You're probably right…"

Yang let out a sigh and gazed over at where Hiro now sat, a cheerless look on her face. She wouldn't say it in front of Ruby, but she was worried about him. The look on his face when he had walked in held a familiar expression on it.

It was the same expression her father had made all those years ago.

=||-{([O])}-||=

**This chapter was a NIGHTMARE to finish! I've never had so much trouble with writers block in my life! Hopefully the next chapters won't be nearly as much of a headache to write.**

**So yeah, we finally get to see where Hiro's random bit of strength comes from. It's not every day you find out that you're not quite as human as you believed, is it? I felt like I had to give Hiro some sort of extra something to help him since he's not exactly "strong" or "skilled at fighting."(In comparison to the other students anyways.)**

**Aedanborn: I'm sorry for making you cry! I'll never forget the Genie!**

**Flamewing98: Flowing off the page? ****_*Looks at the floor*_**** Oh great! Who's going to clean this up?!  
If you like it so far, just wait until you see chapter 8. Hope 'he' lives up to your expectations. ;)**

**Zarrok1138: Hey, I have EXCELLENT accuracy! ...Oh wait, I mean HIRO has Excellent accuracy! ...No, wait! I mean, NO COMMENT! DUST DAMMIT! ****_*Cat's begin jumping out of a nearby sack*_**** Great! Now they're all out of the bag! Hope you're happy!  
To answer your question, yes, the pistol that he has is the weird bulky one from the Dust robbery. It's not exactly the most ideal weapon, but hey, you take what you can get. (Seriously though I am a great shot... :T)**

**I want to thank SakuraNights01 and No Username Available for helping me go over the rough drafts so I can get these out sooner. Lately with work and various side projects I have felt a bit overwhelmed with almost no time to spare. Don't even get me STARTED on my sleeping habits! XD**

**Seriously though, thank all of you guys for reading my story, I honestly didn't think anyone would like it when I started out.  
No Username: "Told you so!"  
Oh you be quiet! Anyways, hope you enjoyed it so far. Hopefully the next chapter will have a bit more... spice to it. Until then, Stay Gold!**


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